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Show ROOSEVELT MAY BE CANDIDATE If Nominated He Would Not Pussyfoot on Any Issue Demands Allegiance to United States. Oyster Bay, N. Y., April 5. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt has flung his hat into the ring. Without specifically declaring de-claring his candidacy for the Repub. llcan presidential nomination, the Colonel, Col-onel, In a sharp declaration of prin. clples, announces the terms upon which he will accept that nomination. . A candidate for congress in a nearby near-by state, who also expects to attend the Chicago convention aB a delegate, called at Sagamore Hill today. Several other guests were present in the famous fa-mous trophy room. In the presence of these the caller, after a general discussion of the convention outlook, said. "You know, colonel, I may make up my mind that wo will have to nominate nomin-ate you." What reply was expected Is purely pure-ly conjectural. There have been several sev-eral attempts recently to smoke the colonel out There was silence for an Instant and then, his eyes snapping and his jaws hard set, Colonel Roosevelt Roose-velt in crackling sentences stated his terms. Roosevelt's P.eply. Colonel Roosevelt replied substantially substan-tially as follows: "Well, now, let me give you a piece of advice. If you have any doubt up. on the subject do not nominate me. Get it perfectly clear in your head, if i you nominate me it must not be cause , you think it is in your interest and the Interest of the Republican party i because you think it in the Interest of the United States to do so. "And, more than that, don't you do it if you expect me to 'pussyfoot' on any single Issue I have raised. Don't be for me unless you arc prepared to say that every citizen of this country has got to be pro-United States first, last and all the time and no 'pro' anything any-thing else at all; and that we stand for every good American everywhere, whatever his birthplace or creed and wherever he lives; and that in return we demand that he be an American and nothing else, with no hyphen about him. No Divided Loyalty. "Every American citizen must be for America first and for no other country even second, and he hasn't anv right to be in the United States at "all If be has any divided loyalty between this country and any other "I don't care a rap for the man's creed or birthplace or national origin so long as he Is straight United Stales. I am for him if he is straight United States, and If he isn't I am aqainst him. And don't you nominate me unless you are prepared to take the position that Uncle Sam is to be strong enough to defend his rights and to defend every one of his people wherever those people are, and he can't be strong, enough unless he prepares pre-pares in advance. "I am not for war; on the contrary, I abhor an unjust or a wanton war, and I would use every honorable expedient ex-pedient to avoid even a just war "But I feel wkh all my heart that you don't, In the long run. avoid war by making other people believe that you are afraid to fight for your own rights. Must Never Wrong Weak. "Uncle Sam must never wrong the weak, he must never insult anyone or wantonly give cause of offense to either eith-er the weak or the strong, and the surest possible way to enable him to keep tho peace and to keep it on terms that v. ill enable Americans to hold their heads high, and not hang them in shame, is for him to be so prepared In advance; and I mean prepared pre-pared In his own soul as well as with his army and navy; that when ho says anything the rest of the world will know that he means It and that he can make It good. "Don't try to nominate me unless you think that Is the policy that ought to be followed out, and followed ut for your own sake as much as for mine and for tho sake of the rest of us here In tho United States. And don't forget that that Isn't a course that provokes war; it Is the only course that In the long run prevents war and secures national self-respect and guarantees the honor of this country coun-try and tho rights of Its citizens wherever they may be." It Is openly conceded that this exposition ex-position of his attitude puts the colonel col-onel openly In the contest, and fast and furious fighting Is expected now up to the minute that the nomination Is made. The statement does not mean that the bars are down and a scramgle for Roosevelt delegates will be permitted In the primaries. On the contrary, Colonel Roosevelt Is adhering adher-ing strictly to his Trinidad statement, of which this outline of his position is simply an elaboration. It can be said that the colonel's desire de-sire is that things 'shall tako their course so that the delegates shall be free when they assemble at Chicago to exercise their own judgment as to what is best to bo done. If thereupon there is any considerable sentiment for his nomination he wants tho dele-gatesc dele-gatesc to know precisely where he stands, ir In their knowledge of his platform Ihey then desire him to run. Willing to Make Fight. He Is willing to make tho fight. In making this statement Colonel Roosevelt Roose-velt is responding to repeated demands de-mands made upon him from all sections sec-tions of the country for light upon his attitude. He believes the country Is facing a crisis and thinks there Is but one Issue to be decided In the coming campaign, namely, the preservation pre-servation of the national honor through a thorough preparedness which will put the nation in shape to meet any contingency that may arise. If this view is shared by the Chicago Chi-cago delegates and they summon him to lead, he Is raedy. But ho still Insists that the people must bo In the "heroic mood" he referred re-ferred to in the Trinidad statement In order to make his nomlnattion possible. |