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
Our ideal must be the effort to combine all proper freedom for
individual effort with some guarantee that the effort is not exercised
in contravention of the eternal and immutable principles of justice.
TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COLORED INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION,
RICHMOND, VA., OCTOBER 18, 1905
_My Fellow-Citizens_:
I want to congratulate you upon the showing your school-children
have made, and further I wish as an American to congratulate the
representatives of the colored race who have shown such progress in
directing the industrial interests of this city. All they have done
in that way means a genuine progress for the race. I am glad as an
American for what you are doing. The standing of the bank which in
this city is managed by colored men should give genuine pride to all
the colored men of this country. Its record is an enviable one. You
colored men who show in business life both ability and a high order of
integrity are real benefactors not only of your race but of the whole
country.
AT CAPITOL SQUARE, RICHMOND, VA., OCTOBER 18, 1905
_My Fellow-Citizens_:
I trust I need hardly say how great is my pleasure at speaking in this
historic capital of your historic State—the State than which no other
has contributed a larger proportion to the leadership of the nation;
for on the honor roll of those American worthies whose greatness is not
only for the age but for all time, not only for one nation but for all
the world, on this honor roll Virginia’s name stands above all others.
And in greeting all of you, I know that no one will grudge my saying a
special word of acknowledgment to the veterans of the Civil War. A man
would indeed be but a poor American who could without a thrill witness
the way in which, in city after city in the North as in the South, on
every public occasion, the men who wore the blue and the men who wore
the gray now march and stand shoulder to shoulder, giving tangible
proof that we are all now in fact as well as in name a reunited people,
a people infinitely richer because of the priceless memories left to
all Americans by you men who fought in the great war. Last Memorial
Day I spoke in Brooklyn, at the unveiling of the statue of a Northern
general, under the auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic, and that
great audience cheered every allusion to the valor and self-devotion of
the men who followed Lee as heartily as they cheered every allusion to
the valor and self-devotion of the men who followed Grant. The wounds
left by the great civil war have long healed, but its memories remain.
Think of it, oh, my countrymen, think of the good fortune that is
ours! That whereas every other war of modern times has left feelings
of rancor and bitterness to keep asunder the combatants, our great war
has left to the sons and daughters of the men who fought, on whichever
side they fought, the same right to feel the keenest pride in the
great deeds alike of the men who fought on one side and of the men who
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