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Show .'" ROOSEVELT WILL I i SUPPORT HUGHES Ml Ml HJ I Declines To Be Candidate On Third Ticket Hf ' Urges Progressives To Follow Example K . No Time For Sulking. B 'I " i NEW YORK, June 26. Col. Theodore Roosevelt todny sent j t the progressive national committee his final letter declining the g nomlnntion for president tendered him by the progressive con- K vention in Chicago. His letter follows in full: H i Uenllcmin--In nordnnre with the H I message I sent to the pwgroiHlve me H llnnnl convention tin soon nn I linil re B erlvcd tlm willflcntlnn that II linil H nominated mo for president, 1 now HH I communicate to ti my reason for H I I declining the honor whleh t so deeply HH I npprcclntc Miner thn ndjournmenl H of thn ronventlon I linvn received be H tween two nnd three thousand let- H tern nnd telegrams from men who Imd H supported mo for tho nomlnntion. thn H majority expressing thn desire thnt I Hj would refuse to run while n minority H ' urged thnt I should ucc pt thn nom H Inntlon. An It I a ph)slcal Impos Hl slblllty to answer these lottirn and H , telegram Indlvldunll), 1 beg thn oour HM tesy of thu senders thnt thoy will ne H . I eept thin public statement In lieu of B ' uch answers. Bf IVronnl I'lnudlt. ' Ilcforn speaking of nn)lhlng else I HH 1 wish to express m) heartiest and H J most unstinted admiration for tho H ) character and services of thn nun HH , and women who madn tip the pro- H i y gresslvn national convention In UK. HH J I can give them no higher pralio than H to say thnt In nil respect they Mood HH J lex el with thn men and women who w 0 191S Joined at Chicago to found M I the progressive patty. These two HH '' conventions. In character. In disinter H J estedncsn. In vision. In Insight, In high HH 111) purpose and In desire tu render prac l i i tlral service to the people, t) pitied HJ i, i exactly what such bodies ought to be HJ In a grtat self governing democracy B They represented thn spirit whlc.t HH m moved Abraham Lincoln and his poll H,' I i tlral associate during tho decade pre JAW ' ceding the close of the civil war, Thn Hh , j platform put forth In It 13 wan much t I ' . the mont Important publlo document Hf promulgated In thin country since the Hl de.ith of Abraham Lincoln It repro Hf , 1 tented thn first effort on u large Hf .m scale to translate nbntrarl formulas HHI iw of economic nnd social Juntlco Into HH I 'JH comreltt Amerlvnu imtlonnllrm, thn B. I ( IB effort to apply thn prlnclplm of B I1 S Washington and Lincoln to the nrd i ' 3 of the United Htntva In tho twentieth jiy century, No finer tffvrt win .r Tu nudo to lorvn the American people, m i In n spirit of high loyally to ull thnt U U 4 .-j loftlent In the American tradition. H M Y '.HI Kventn have Miown thnt the pro- BI ? u-B grraln party In 191 S offered tho only f 1 alternattvn to the triumph of thn B ' IJwjfl democratic pnrt. Moreover, thena J I f eenu hnn nhon that thn nppllcn- Hi TfiL tlon of the prlnalplea which wo then HVJ ' iVriB advocated In een morn necrnnary to VI ' ianl ,hU nAt,un tnan uo ot ,h' ,lmn U1'" HHJ i drs posed. B ! ''53 I'lilterxjil Training. R ) nX rn( r'u,,l, ,,f t" ttrrlblo world IssbbbbH j T-SS war of the past two jeurs hna now j ,J made It exldent to all who lire will h'J Ing to me, thnt In thin country there f.fll must be spiritual and Induntrlnl pro I UjJ parcdnesn, nlong the linen of iffl i. jjBfl clency, of loal srlcn to the nation Mn BnJ of Pfnctlcnl application of the 9M precept that each mnn mutt be hU i J(b I'rolher'n keeper furthermore, It Is -f-Ajin no less evident thnt this preuured ypHJ Hess for the tasks of penie forms tho I lAM vnl' "unJ ,,nk' for ,,m Indlspens wfl II naBHI "k' inllllnry prepnrodnesn whleh H ' fifSM Tilt l" U1ilrrtl mllitury trulnlng S '' ImHI ttnJ ul,llh "IU', rxpresxlon In unlxr Ht i nS '' obligatory service In time of war, iH I 'flH Huol nnlxirsal obligatory training II 'Ul and service are the necessary romple j iH ments of utilversul suffrage, nnd rep ' '9H renent the reulltatlon of tho true ' flB& AtllcrlVRii, the dcmocrutlc, Ideal In nBfn both peace ami war, t m$M Booiur nr lalir (lie huilouat prlu ! I&ifl clples chiililliloniMl by thn progrcs ' VipS 1r '" ",! nnlt ln ,,lclr Kenernl rf - 1X tfCt l' "hiliodled In the structure uf HI rJEm oUr natlunul exlsteniu. With all my Vi i '" ivM heart I shall continue to work for ' .ftUlB lhes great Meals, shoulder to shoul V i' vtM ,,er w'"1 ""' mrl "'"' Mlllnp u',0 '" flt SHH 1913, championed thrm, nnd 1 am HI; lit TIM sure that ttie.o men and women will ! ti&Bi fuudumentnl Ideuls whlih the events : f SBf of tha past two years linve proven to KBJ ,l1 ttul to the ptrmiiuiiuy of our mi . !jVI tlonnl tuUtentn. Th niKthoil b 1 ' Svxl whloh we are to show our loult to VH t vmM these Ideals must be iletsrmlntMl In Hb 1 JlHB vnuh ease b the uttuul event Our IK t fWJI loalty Is to the tint, to the principle, wB t I J4a ta "lrl i,i,'h1, uml ""l ""'''f', to thej H WMl name, and Imist of all. to the mrty i'JvS name. ( iSttl r'1" progtesolve movement hun it itflH been given an liKHluiluble Imiwtits b XaKl what the progreNve wrt has done WHS ur lru"r'l,t P'i HiitHgonlMts have i I mHH iiivepled and enacted Into law or em-' B IF " iHidled In their wrt plutfiirmi, r Br ohBS many of our most Important prlucl HI ' , JjB l,ei' AIucn ,,n ,"'en uceompllshed In Hw if Hm awakening the public to a better un HIT ! 1 JB derstaiidlug of the problems of social HV r ) VjBbH "ni1 lni,u,,r,;,l welfare. Bil j 9bW 'u Tlmo to SulL. Hb ' QlHn Vet ll '"" uri'omo entirely evident B !9n ,nat tno I1"?0!'1" under existing condl H IsKl tlona nro not prepared to accept a HB'll .'.Ah new party. HB 7J It Is Impossible for us progreMlves H 9F to abandon our convictions. Hut we HYi! M$iP "" fuct"t w,n lhe fnet ,,mt ns ,,n HB't rJf actually are the progressive national Hi! rf"tfJ organization no longer offers 'the Hlj, jj.'lvte means whereby we cun make these Hb ; Hi'Si convictions effective In our national Hi Sfl Under such circumstances, our He ( ' fffl du,y t0 do tne beBt wo can' nnd not Hm( 'Tiilffi t0 u'k because our leadership Is re Hfttfi nrS Jected. That we ourselves continue HHu ' YW In believe that the course we nihil ented wan In tha highest Interest of the American peoplo In aside from the MUestlnn II In unpatriotic to refuse to do the Ik-kI poMlble mirely be rnno the peoplo have not put us In position to do what wo regnrd its the Vrrj best ll remains for u, good humoredly and with common sense, to face the situation and endeavor to gel nut nf It thn best that it can be inndn to slclil from thn standpoint of the lntr'Kln of the nntlon nn n whole This vvns the situation at tho open Ing of tho present )enr, ll was clearly evident that unlesn n catncl)stn occurred oc-curred thnt tho presldenllsl election would result In the choice of either the republican or tho dimoirntlc nominee. rrnlgnn AilinlnlMrntlon. The prenent administration through Its three earn of life has benn guilt) of nhortcomlngs morn signal thnn those of any administration since the dn nf lluchsnan Krom thn stand point of national honor nnd Interest. It stood on nn even lower level than thn administration of Iluchanan. No administration In our history hnd done more to relax the spring of the national will and to deaden tho nn tlonal conscience. Within thn republican party con fllctlng forces wero at work. There were men nmong tho organltatlun leaders who advocated a course of action ac-tion such as offered no Improvement on the democratic position, and advocated ad-vocated the nomination of candidates whose eleotlon vvould have represented represent-ed no Improvement upon the con tlnunncn In office of Mr. Wilson. If such a course wero followed, It would obviously become our duly to run a third ticket. Hut It wan plainly our duty to do everthlng honoiublo In order to pre vent such n necessity; to do fcry thing short of sacrificing our most sacred vonvktlons In order to secure the alignment under onn leadership ot tho fori en oppored to tho continuance In power of Mr, Wilson nnd the democratic demo-cratic party. Overture 1'or ('(million. limb r these circumstances the progressive pro-gressive national committee, at Chicago Chi-cago In January, outlined our duty to seek common at tlon with the republican repub-lican party, using the following words' "Our people are seeking lend ershlp leadership of tho highest or der and most courageous characters leadership that will draft to Itself for the country's benefit the unselfish and patriotic, services of Its ablest eltliens. The surest way to secure for our lountry thn required leadership will bo by having. If possible, both the pr grrsslve and republican partlrs choose the same standard bearer and the same principles." RIk weeks later, March 9th, In my Trinidad statement, I asked for a similar combination ngalnst th- democratic dem-ocratic pari, on n, platform of "clean-cut, "clean-cut, stralghtout nttlonal Americanism," American-ism," and for u candidate "who will not merely stand for such a program before election, bill will resolutely nnd In food faith put It through If elected." This vvns. In effect, the same stale mont that I made In in) telegram to cX-Henator Jackson, pending the eon Vintlon, which run In purl as follows "Cuu we not, forgetting past differ enrcs, now join for the safety nnd honor of our country to enforce the policies of genuine Americanism nnd gstiulne preparedness? Kurely wo can afford to nit In accordance with the words of Abraham Lincoln when ho said. May not all having n common InUreot reunite In u common effort to save our common countr)? May ue imk those who have differed with us to poln In this same spirit toward those who hnveT' An far an my own soul Is known to me It Is In thin same spirit that nt thin time I muke my appeal ap-peal to the republicans and progren-shin progren-shin HSMt'iiihlcil In Chleugit" l'i to the Convention. In addition to iheee public statements. state-ments. I Imd ! stated my onn attitude at-titude verhullv. uud In letters, during the weeks Immediately preceding the convention, to sores nf leading pro grenslves from all parts of the eoun try, Including manv of the leaders it the convention To then men I expresM-d nn earnest earn-est huie that the ripublUans would so art as to make it HMMlble for the , progressive to Join with them 1 stated to them, hoviever, that In view of the attitude ot Mm of the repub Main it-adsrs it wus ut least concelv .able that we should be put In a posl ! tlon where our highest duty, our feal I) to the country our sense of what patriotism demanded In a great crisis vvould make It imperative upon us to j run a sepurnte tlcktt. and that whether whe-ther In such event It would be nee essar far mn to head that ticket lould not be determined In advance. , I stated In these Intervluwi. nnd In these letters, with the utmost emphasis, em-phasis, whnt the decision of this .point, like tho whole matter of run 'nlng u separate ticket, vvould have to bo dettrmintd by what thn Inter ots of the countr) demanded In view of the action finally taken by the conventions at Chicago At the time many of the republican leadirs usserted that mv statements were not made In good faith; that I really Intended to Insist upon mv on nomlnntion by the repuhlbnn conwr tlon, nnd that if 1 wis not so nomln nted I Intended to accept the progris slvn nomination and run on a thlrJ ticket Of course my fellow progrcs slves were under no such error. The knew, that I spoke In good faith and meant exactly what I said Th y knew thnt my utterances wero to le accepted at their exact faro value ni meaning thnt If the republicans njnv innted a man whom we could con slttently support wo would support him. The progressive convention camn together knowing my publi statements, nnd therefore knowing ex-nctl) ex-nctl) what my nttltudo was, ricilfrn Support to Iluglicn. In my judgment the nomination of Mr, Mughin meets the conditions set forth In thn statement of the progressive progres-sive national committer. Issued last January, and In my own statement I'nder existing conditions the nomlna tlon of n third ticket would, In m: Judgment, be merely n move In the Interest of the election of Mr Wilson. Wil-son. I tegnrd Mr Hughes nn ft man whos public record In a guarontic that "he will not mercl) stand for a program of cleoncut stralghtout Americanism Am-ericanism before election, but will res olutely nnd In good fnlth put It through." lie In be)ond all comporl son better fitted to be president than Mr, Wilson It would be n grave detriment det-riment to the country to re-elect Mr Wilson. I shall, therefore, strongly support Mr Hughes. Much being the case, It Is unnecessary to say that I cannot accept thn nomination on n third ticket I do not believe that there should bn a third ticket. 1 believe thnt when my fellow progressiva cooty consider tho question they will for the most part take this position They nnd I have but one purpose tho purpose to serve our common country. It In my deep conviction at this moment we can serve it only li) supporting Mr. Hughes. II Is urged ngalnnt Mr. HurIiis that ho was supported by the various so-called so-called OermanAtnerlcan alliances. I believe that the attitude of the pro fesslonal Orrmnn-Amerlcnnn wan due, not In the least to nny liking for Mr, Hughts, but solely to their nntngon Ism to me. They were bound to dc feat me for tho nomlnntion. The only way by which they could achieve this objict was by supporting Mr. Hughe and they supported him accordingly, ftttritnil any rcg.trd to other consldir atlons. I need hard!) repeat whnt t he already said In stern reprobation of thin profcilonal Oerman-Anurlcan element thn element typified by the German-American alliances and the similar bodies, which have, In the prenomlnallon campaign, pla)ed not merely nn un-American hut a thoroughly thor-oughly nntl-Amerlinn part. These men huvn nothing In common with the gnat body nf Americans who are In whole or In part of Herman blood, and who are privlntly as good Americans Amer-icans an those of any other ancestry There are not, and never have been. In all our land, better i Miens than the grrat nms of men and women of (Urman (ilrth or descent who have been or are lit Ing lontplctely merged In our common Amerlian national!!), a nationality distinct from nny In Kurope, for Americans wlio are good Atmricaiis are no more Herman-Americans Herman-Americans thnn they arc Kngllih-Amtrlcaiis. Kngllih-Amtrlcaiis. or Irish-Americans, or Hcandlnavluti-Amcrlcnns. They ure Americans and nothing else. No good Amirlcan, whatever his ancestry or cried, can have any felling fell-ing except e orn and detestation for those professional Oerman-Amerlcans who seek to make the American president pres-ident In effect u viceroy of the Oer man imperor, The professional Oer man-Amtrlcuns of this t)pa arc acting act-ing purely in tho sinister Intirrst of (lermuny. They have shown theJr eager rrndinesn to sniriflie the Inter tst of the t'nltcd Ktatis whenever Its Interest conflict! d with that ot tier many. They represent that adherence adher-ence to the politico. ruilsl h)phen which Is the badge nnd sign of moral treason to the republic, I have tingled tin-gled these men out for seelflt de nuni latlon, und usiurcdly f 1 support sup-port a candldutn It may lie ncupted As proof Unit I urn nrlsln that the candidate In Incapable of being Influenced In-fluenced bj thn evil intrigues of these h)ihenatid Americans. Mr. Hughes' eharaetir and his whole course of conduct In public affairs af-fairs Justify us In the assured conviction convic-tion thai the tact that these nun have for their own purposes supported him will, in no shape or way, affect his publlo actions before or after election. Ills entire publli life Is u guarantee of this. WtUoi.'it WnriN anil lml. The events of the last three and a half eurs hnva shown thnt as much can not be said for Wilson. In Mr, Wilson's case we do not have to con slder his words, but his deeds Ills itetds absolutely inintradlit his words, and for the mattir of that his winds absolutely contradict one nuutlur It is fatty to pay In ill to any or the promise in the platform on whleh he now stands In view of the fuit that almost every Important promise con tnined In tho platform un whlih he stood four )eara ago hutt slnie ! n broken We owe nil of our present trouble with thu professional Utrmaii-Amir lean element In thn t'liltwl Htatis to Mr Wilson's timid course 'during the last two er. The defender of Mr Wilson have ulliged In exiuse fur him that he innfrnnted u difficult situa tion. As regards Mexico, the situation which Mr Wilson confronted was nothing no-thing llko us difficult as that which Tresldent McKlnley confronted In connection with Cuba and the Philippine Philip-pine at the time of the Bpanlsh war. Under the actual circumstances we could with only a minimum risk hao protested on behalf of Ilelgium, a small, veil behaved nation, when she was exposed to the last extremity of outrage by the brutal violation of her neutral rights, this lolatlon being Itself It-self a violation of Thu Hague conventions conven-tions to which wo were a signatory power. As regards the foreign situation generally during the great war, tha fact of the existence of the war made It far easier and afer for Mr, Wilson to osMtt ur rights than If he had had to deal with some single strong pwr whkh wns at tho tlmo unhampered un-hampered by war During the pnt twent) Jearn questions ques-tions hnve nrlen with powers of the first rnnk, suih nn Knglnnd, Japan nnd Herman), ench of whleh hns necessitated nec-essitated far greater cournge, resolution resolu-tion and Judgment on the pirt of the president dealing with It thnn President Presi-dent Wilson need have shown In order to put n complete stop to the 'on-tlnually 'on-tlnually repeated murder of American men, women nnd children on the high sens by Herman submarines the Lu eltanlft being merely the worst of many such cases. The same feebleness feeble-ness that wan shown by I'resldint Wllnon In dealing with Herman)' abroad, was also shown by him In dealing with the organised Ocrmnn outrages within our own land, and, finally, In dealing with the organlied Herman-American vote. The continued contin-ued existence of the Herman-American menace nt home In directly due to Mr, Wilson's course of action during dur-ing the past two ears. Mtjtpprovet Third Ticket. (Vrtaln of my friends who feel that the progressiva should run a third tlikrt base their feeling on objection to tho ohnracti r of the republican nn tlonal convention. As regards this point. It Is sufficient to say that the members of tho ri publican national convention were unquestionably In durrd to nominate Mr Hughis be cause of the txllcf that his Integrity and forcu of ilmrnctcr, nnd his long record of admirable publlo sirvlce, would make him peaullarly nccipt-able, nccipt-able, not only to the rank and file of the republican part), but to the people peo-ple generall), I do not believe that Mr Hughes would have been nomln-slid nomln-slid If It had not been for the fight on behalf of public decency and efficient) effi-cient) which the progressive party tins waged during the past four )ears. In tin) event, and without nny regard re-gard In what the personal feelings of any of us ma) bo as regards the action ac-tion of the republican convention, l wish very solunnly to ask the representatives repre-sentatives of the progressive party to consider at this time only the welfaru of the people of the t'nlted Htales. We shall prove false to our Ideals and our professions If, In thin grave crisis of the nation's life, we permit our Ives to bn swerved from the one prime duty or serving with cool Judg mint and single mlndid devotion the nation's needs. Our own political fortunes. Individually Indi-vidually nnd eolleetlvel), ore of no conseiiueuie whatever when compared com-pared with the honor und wilfare of the people In the United Htatis. Kuril things do not count when weighed In the iKilance ngalnst our dut) to serve well the country In whlih. after we are dend, our children nnd our .nil dren's children nre to live The world Is imrslng through n great crisis nnd no man iiiu tell what! trlnl und Jiopurd) will have to be' fund b) this nntlon during the )ars' Immediately ahead, There Is now I no longer before us for deilslon the quistlou us to what particular man we may severally most desire to si ut the head of the government. We can decide onl) whether during thise posslbt) vital Mars this country shulll be intruded to thn leadership nf Mr I Hughes or Mr Wilson Wll'vou round Wumliig. Mr Wilson has been trhM and found wanting. His part) becwune of Its devotion to the outworn theory of state rights, and hecaue uf Its re. Ilame upon purel) m-illoimi support, stands ngulnst that spirit of farsight-ed farsight-ed nationalism whlih is wntisl if we nre to deal art. iuatl with ,,nr gravis! hoiIrI mill Imluntriul problems. prob-lems. Mr Wilson und his paru iuti in uitual nniitlie Ihiiii-iiiuIiH run. . i . safeguard the Interest and lion r f the United Mates. Tho haw brought us to luiMtiiue abroad and to .lh. slon ami weakneiw at horn, Th. have aiiiutiuneil us to ... the lui.li. i und most resHinslbii .in r ,r k,, eminent filled by liiainHi in m, n appointed onl) fm reawiu . i imrtisui politics. The) hnvi dull, , I Ut, mrj sense of the people Tlu htt, tuichi us that pence the xei f .(.wsrdi.i and dishonor and iiidlfiereike t th w elf ure of others. Is to be nut nbm. righteousness, uhovt the sirrn audi unflinching pvrformame of dui whether the dut) Is pleasant or un-pleasant. un-pleasant. Vet In Mexico ihe hnvni failed even to secure the peace whlih the) thus sought, and they have failed fail-ed In spite of tho most ample opnor-tunlty opnor-tunlty and most umple warning to prepare In on) real foshlon to meet the crisis which their own polle) . vited. They have taught us to put "safety first," safety bifore duty and honor; to put that materialism whleh expresses Itself In mere money mak-Ing, mak-Ing, and In the fatted ease of Uf,. above all spiritual things, above all the high and fine Instincts of the soul. They have taught us to acceDt admit elocution as a substitute for straightforward and efficient action They have raised Indecision, hesitancy and vacillation Into n settled governmental govern-mental policy. Tiilly Indornw HurIics, Mr, Hughes has shown In his career ca-reer tho Instinct of efficiency which wilt guarantee that under him the govirnment will once more work with vigor nnd force. He possesses thnt habit of straightforward thinking which means that his words will be correlated with his deeds nnd trans lated Into facts. Ills past career In tho warrant for our belief that ho will be the unfaltering opponent of that system of Invisible government which finds expression In the domination of the party boss and the party machine. Ills post career In n gutrantec that whatever ho sa)s bifore election wilt be made good by his acts after election. elec-tion. Morally, thin public record shows him to be a man of unbending Integrity; Intellectually it shown him to be a man ot original and trained ability. Wc have the alternative of continuing continu-ing In office an administration which has proved a Inmentablo failure, or of putting Into office nn administration administra-tion which wo have every reason to believe will function with efficiency for the Interest and honor of all our people. I earnestly bespeak from my fellow progressives their ungrudging support sup-port of Mr, Hughes. Yours truly, TIIKODOIIK ItOOHKVKLT, Kagamorn IIIU, Juno ::, 19M. |