Presidential addresses and state papers, Volume 4 (of 7)Roosevelt, Theodore
History
Presidential addresses and state papers, Volume 4 (of 7)
Roosevelt, Theodore
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919; United States -- Politics and government -- 1901-1909
Remember that the rancorous envy that hates the rich is only one side
of the shield whose obverse is the insolence and arrogance that looks
down on the poor. The two qualities are fundamentally the same. They
only differ in their manifestations because it happens that the man
showing one is in a different position from the man showing the other.
You show me a rich man who is arrogant and insolent in his disregard
of the man of less means, and I tell you that same man, if he loses
his wealth, will want to plunder every rich man. In the same way the
man who preaches the gospel of hate and envy toward his fellows who
are better off, if he becomes better off will oppress the men whom he
once championed. Distrust the man who would persuade you that he would
do you good by trying to do any other man harm. The man who is true to
you will ultimately be the man who is true to the great fundamental
principles of righteousness. In public life the man who seeks to
persuade you that he will benefit you by wronging any one else, if the
chance arises, will surely try to benefit himself by wronging you. What
as a nation we need is to stand by the eternal, immutable principles
of right and decency, the principle of fair dealing as between man and
man, the principles that teach us to regard virtue with respect and
vice with abhorrence wherever either the virtue or the vice may be
found. If we substitute for the line that divides the decent man from
the man who is not decent, the line dividing the rich man from the poor
man, or the line making any other artificial division, we will have
done irreparable wrong to the Nation itself.
Governor, you spoke of a hideous crime that is often hideously avenged.
The worst enemy of the negro race is the negro criminal, and, above
all, the negro criminal of that type; for he has committed not only
an unspeakably dreadful and infamous crime against the victim, but he
has committed a hideous crime against the people of his own color; and
every reputable colored man, every colored man who wishes to see to the
uplifting of his race, owes it as his first duty to himself and to
that race to hunt down that criminal with all his soul and strength.
Now for the side of the white man. To avenge one hideous crime by
another hideous crime is to reduce the man doing it to the bestial
level of the wretch who committed the bestial crime. The horrible
effects of lynch law are shown in the fact that three-fourths of the
lynchings are not for that crime at all, but for other crimes. And
above all other men, Governor, you and I and all who are exponents and
representatives of the law, owe it to our people, owe it to the cause
of civilization and humanity, to do everything in our power, officially
and unofficially, directly and indirectly, to free the United States
from the menace and reproach of lynch law.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account