Evening star., 1937-04-06

ley's invitation to become Secretary Of
War, he said, II took the United
States for my client" He kept that
client for the rest Of his active life.
what the people do not understand
about him." Roosevelt told Oscar
Davis, lis that. If he were President,
| they would be his clients"
In the Panama case, Root actually
agreed with Roosevelt although, If
he had been in Washington at the
time, he might have suggested = sub
tier method of operation. There was
= storm Of objection to Roosevelt's
course. Some of the storm was, Mr..
Root remarked, an evidence Of "the
very common practice Of objecting so
that you will have an alibi If the thing
turns out wrong. How often 1 have
seen the Latin Americans dying Of
eagerness to have something done
over their objection!"
The President, in a cabinet meet
ing, adverted to the criticism and
proceeded to defend his action.
WELL" he demanded savagely, as he
concluded, "have I defended myself?
Have I answered the accusations?"
His eye nxed itself upon Secretary
Root who replied cheerfully:
You certainly have, Mr.. President.
You have shown that you were ac-
cused Of seduction and you have con-
clusively proved that you were guilty
OF rape"
Relations Began Early.
The relations of Root and Roose-
welt 20 back to the very beginning OF
the latter's political career. In 1881,
Theodore Roosevelt was a braSh young
fellow of %, just back from a honey
moon in England, armed with an as
sortment- of flashy waistcoats and a
broad "a" Elihu Root was only 36,
but was already a prominent New
York attorney, handling big cases for
big clients, a friend of President Ar
thur, who, in the following year, ap-
pointed him United States district
attorney in New York. Politics was
not at that time established as a So
cially desirable profession, and James
Roosevelt, Theodore's uncle, thought
it disgusting that gentleman should
90 into politics.
Root joined Joseph H. Coate, Judge
Noah Davis and other prominent citi-
zens in signing the petition to nomi-
nate Roosevelt for the New York
Assembly. Five years later, Root was
chairman of the Republican County
Committee and temporary chairman
Of the Republican County Convention.
He had himslef been doomed for
Mayor OF New York, but he threw the
weight of his position into obtaining
the nomination for Roosevelt Prob
ably the stand which he and other
Union League Republicans took made
little difference, since Boss" Platt
had already decided that Roosevelt
should be nominated, but Root again
appears as an influential party sup
porter OF the fiery young Roosevelt.
Roosevelt Jared badly in the CAM
paign. trailing both the successful
candidate, Abram S. Hewitt, and the
single-taxer. Henry George, but, when
he returned to New York politics in
1895 as Mayor Strong's president OF
the police board, Root was again at
his side. Root was trusted legal
adviser Of the Mayor, and as Roose-
welt became entangled in his rows
with the other police commissioners,
it was Root who acted as his counsel.
Affection Was Paternal.
It was during this period, when
Root had just passed so and Roosevelt
was still in his middle 30s, that the
| character Of Roots attitude toward
his friend became fixed. There was
! in Roots feeling of affection for
Theodore" much that was paternal;
he admired him, was amused by him,
chided him, loved him. In October.
1904, Just before T. r. was elected
to the presidency in his own right,
Root wrote to him in his usual BAN
tering way: Il congratulate you on
attaining the respectable age Of 46.
! You have made good start In life
and your friends have great hopes
for you when you grow up"
In the Fall of 1898 Roosevelt was
slated for the Republican nomination
for Governor Of New York. On the
eve Of the State convention at Sara
toga the newspapers printed the re-
suits Of somebody's quiet snooping in
the tax records. 1t appeared that. in
the preceding January Roosevelt had
| made an afldavit that he was resi-
|