Part 20 (1/2)

Inas that last of all resorts, war, the dealing of necessity had to be between the foreign power and the National Government, it was inty could be invoked in such a islative or other action in any State affects a foreign nation, then the affair becomes one for the Nation, and the State should deal with the foreign power purely through the Nation

I explained that I was in entire sympathy with the people of California as to the subject of iration of the japanese in mass; but that of course I wished to accomplish the object they had in view in the way that would be s of the japanese; that all relations between the two peoples must be those of reciprocal justice, and that it was an intolerable outrage on the part of newspapers and public h-spirited, sensitive, and friendly people; and that such action as was proposed about the schools could only have bad effects, and would in no shape or way achieve the purpose that the Californians had in mind I also explained that I would use every resource of the National Governhts, and would count upon the State authorities backing me up to the limit in such action In short, I insisted upon the two points (1) that the Nation and not the individual States nificance and n nations with entire courtesy and respect; and (2) that the Nation would at once, and in efficient and satisfactory manner, take action that would meet the needs of California I both asserted the power of the Nation and offered a full reht, and the only right, course The worst possible course in such a case is to fail to insist on the right of the Nation, to offer no action of the Nation to re, and yet to try to coax the State not to do what it is ed to believe it has the power to do, when no other alternative is offered

After a good deal of discussion, we came to an entirely satisfactory conclusion The obnoxious school legislation was abandoned, and I secured an arrangement with japan under which the japanese theration to our country of their laboring people, it being distinctly understood that if there was such eration the United States would at once pass an exclusion law It was of course infinitely better that the japanese should stop their own people fro rather than that we should have to stop them; but it was necessary for us to hold this power in reserve

Unfortunately, after I left office, a most mistaken and ill-advised policy was pursued towards japan, co irritation and inefficiency, which culminated in a treaty under which we surrendered this ied in excuse that the treaty provided for its own abrogation; but of course it is infinitely better to have a treaty under which the power to exercise a necessary right is explicitly retained rather than a treaty so drawn that recourseif it ever becoht in question

The arrangement we made worked admirably, and entirely achieved its purpose No small part of our success was due to the fact that we succeeded in i on the japanese that we sincerely admired and respected them, and desired to treat thely express nation with, and abhorrence of, reckless public writers and speakers ith coarse and vulgar insolence, insult the japanese people and thereby do the greatest wrong not only to japan but to their own country

Such conduct represents that nadir of underbreeding and folly The japanese are one of the great nations of the world, entitled to stand, and standing, on a footing of full equality with any nation of Europe or America I have the heartiest admiration for them They can teach us her than our own It is eminently undesirable that japanese and Aether in masses; any such atte statesmen of both countries should join to prevent it

But this is not because either nation is inferior to the other; it is because they are different The two peoples represent two civilizations which, although in h, are so totally distinct in their past history that it is idle to expect in one or two generations to overcome this difference One civilization is as old as the other; and in neither case is the line of cultural descent coincident with that of ethnic descent Unquestionably the ancestors of the great majority both of the modern Americans and the modern japanese were barbarians in that reins of the cultured peoples to which the Americans and the japanese of to-day severally trace their civilizations But the lines of development of these two civilizations, of the Orient and the Occident, have been separate and divergent since thousands of years before the Christian era; certainly since that hoary eld in which the Akkadian predecessors of the Chaldean Seether, out of hand, the peoples representing the culent cultural developht with peril; and this, I repeat, because the two are different, not because either is inferior to the other Wise states to the future, will for the present endeavor to keep the two nations fro, precisely because they wish to keep each in relations of perood will and friendshi+p with the other

Exactly as done in the particular crisis to which I refer is shown in the following letter which, after our policy had been successfully put into execution, I sent to the then Speaker of the California lower house of the Legislature:

THE WHITE HOUSE, WAshi+NGTON, February 8, 1909

HON P A STANTON, Speaker of the assembly, Sacramento, California:

I trust there will be noof the Federal Governuard the interests of California and of the entire West in accordance with the desires of our Western people By friendly agree out a policy which, whilethe interests and desires of the Pacific slope, is yet compatible, not merely with mutual self-respect, but with mutual esteem and admiration between the Americans and japanese The japanese Govern its part to carry out this policy, precisely as the A The policy aiation and behavior In accordance with it the purpose is that the japanese shall coo to japan, which is in effect that travelers, students, persons engaged in international business, men who sojourn for pleasure or study, and the like, shall have the freest access from one country to the other, and shall be sure of the best treatment, but that there shall be no settlement inthe last six months under this policy more japanese have left the country than have come in, and the total number in the United States has diures are absolutely accurate and cannot be impeached In other words, if the present policy is consistently followed and works as well in the future as it is noorking, all difficulties and causes of friction will disappear, while at the saood will of the other But such a bill as this school bill acco whatever in the line of the object airave cause for irritation; while in addition the United States Governed immediately to take action in the Federal courts to test such legislation, as we hold it to be clearly a violation of the treaty On this point I refer you to the nuard to State lahich violate treaty obligations of the United States The legislation would acco beneficial and would certainly cause sorave mischief In short, the policy of the Administration is to co the real object which the people of the Pacific Slope have at heart, with the uided ainst which I protest are following a policy which combines the very minimum of efficiency with theto achieve any real result for good, yet ht accomplish an infinity of harm If in the next year or two the action of the Federal Governh the further action of the President and Congress it can be ment of the people of California will support you, Mr Speaker, in your effort

Letwhich the people of California wish to be done, and to upset the arrangeood and ures of ie the last sixsuccessfully, then there would be ground for grievance and for the reversal by the National Government of its present policy But at present the policy is working well, and until it works badly it would be a grave ed effectively by the National Governn and do n affairs the principle from which we never deviated was to have the Nation behave toward other nations precisely as a strong, honorable, and uprightwith his fellow- as international law in the sense that there is municipal law or laithin a nation Within the nation there is always a judge, and a policee The whole systee coment, and second upon the fact that there is soment, by force if necessary In international law there is no judge, unless the parties in interest agree that one shall be constituted; and there is no policee's orders In consequence, as yet each nation htful calamities that have befallen China, solely because she has had no power of self-defense, ought to make it inexcusable in any wise American citizen to pretend to patriotic purpose, and yet to fail to insist that the United States shall keep in a condition of ability if necessary to assert its rights with a strong hand It is folly of the criminal type for the Nation not to keep up its navy, not to fortify its vital strategic points, and not to provide an adequate army for its needs On the other hand, it is wicked for the Nation to fail in either justice, courtesy, or consideration when dealing with any other power, big or little John Hay was Secretary of State when I became President, and continued to serve under me until his death, and his and my views as to the attitude that the Nation should take in foreign affairs were identical, both as regards our duty to be able to protect ourselves against the strong and as regards our duty always to act not only justly but generously toward the weak

John Hay was one of theof all n affairs coincided absolutely; but, as was natural enough, in domestic matters he feltreat radical democratic leader of the '60's, Abraha with erous tendencies in favor of labor against capital When I was inaugurated on March 4, 1905, I wore a ring he sentthe hair of Abrahaer when the Chief Justice adiance to the United States; I often thereafter told John Hay that when I wore such a ring on such an occasion I bound myself more than ever to treat the Constitution, after the hts above property rights when the two conflicted The last Christmas John Hay was alive he sent a by Willia note:

Christ this Norse saga should belong to you, and in your character of Enemy of Property this Ms of Willia you a Merry Christmas and many happy years, I am yours affectionately,

JOHN HAY

In internal affairs I cannot say that I entered the Presidency with any deliberately planned and far-reaching sche convictions; and I was on the lookout for every opportunity of realizing those convictions I was bent uponthe Govern the people of the United States to better themselves in every way, politically, socially, and industrially I believed with alldemocracy, and I wished to h I had only partially formulated the methods I believed we should follow I believed in the people's rights, and therefore in National rights and States' rights just exactly to the degree in which they severally secured popular rights I believed in invoking the National poith absolute freedom for every National need; and I believed that the Constitution should be treated as the greatest document ever devised by the wit ofevery power necessary for its own betterly fashi+oned to strangle growth As for the particularthese various beliefs, I was content to wait and see what iven case as it arose; and I was certain that the cases would arise fast enough

As the time for the Presidential nomination of 1904 drew near, it beca with the rank and file of the party, but that there waspolitical leaders, and especially aroup of these anize this opposition It was to be done with complete secrecy But such secrets are very hard to keep I speedily knew all about it, and tookas they could work under cover, or so long as they were ht one way or the other between forces fairly evenly balanced, were quite helpless when fighting in the open by the practical was even attempted by most of the men who took part in the conference Three or four of the business corporation atteations froainst reat railway syste towards the control of the delegations froainst me He was a very powerful man financially, but his power politically was much more limited, and he did not really understand his own limitations or the situation itself, whereas I did He could not have secured a delegate against me from Iowa, Nebraska, or Kansas In Colorado and California he could have ht, but even there I think he would have been co before the tinized that it was hopeless to make any opposition to my nomination The effort was abandoned, and I was noe Parker was noainst est circulation were against me; in New York City fifteen out of every sixteen copies of papers issued were hostile to me I won by a popular majority of about two e carried 330 votes against 136 It was by far the largest popular iven any Presidential candidate

My opponents during the can had laid much stress upon my supposed personal ambition and intention to use the office of President to perpetuateon the subject prior to the election, as I did not wish to say anything that could be construed into a promise offered as a consideration in order to secure votes But on election night, after the returns were in I issued the following statement: ”The wise custoards the substance and not the form, and under no circumstances will I be a candidate for or accept another nomination”

The reason for y used ofold In the first place,that, as I had served only three and a half years ofin from the Vice-Presidency when President McKinley was killed, I had really had only one elective term, so that the third term custoestion I believed then (and I believe now) the third term custom or tradition to be wholesoard its substance, refusing to quibble over the words usually employed to express it On the other hand, I did not wish simply and specifically to say that I would not be a candidate for the nomination in 1908, because if I had specified the year when I would not be a candidate, it would have been widely accepted asthat I intended to be a candidate some other year; and I had no such intention, and had no idea that I would ever be a candidate again

Certain newspaper men did ask me if I intended to applyof 1912, nor of 1920, nor of 1940, and that Iwhatever except what appeared in reat office, and the power of the President can be effectively used to secure a renomination, especially if the President has the support of certain great political and financial interests It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that the wholeso to serve, an incumbent who has proved capable, is not applicable to the Presidency Therefore, the Aainst allowing any man to hold that office for more than two consecutive terms

But every shred of pohich a President exercises while in office vanishes absolutely when he has once left office An ex-President stands precisely in the position of any other private citizen, and has not one particle more power to secure a nomination or election than if he had never held the office at all--indeed, he probably has less because of the very fact that he has held the office Therefore the reasoning on which the anti-third term custom is based has no application whatever to an ex-President, and no application whatever to anything except consecutive terainst more than two consecutive terms the custom embodies a valuable principle Applied in any other way it becomes a mere formula, and like all for this inpractically, if not just as much, to a President who had been seven and a half years in office as to one who had been eight years in office, and therefore, in the teeth of a practically unanimous demand from my own party that I accept another nomination, and the reasonable certainty that the nomination would be ratified at the polls, I felt that the substance of the custom applied to me in 1908 On the other hand, it had no application whatever to any hu save where it was invoked in the case of a iven such substantial proof of ard for the custom, I deem it a duty to add this comment on it I believe that it is well to have a custoenerally observed, but that it would be very unwise to have it definitely hardened into a Constitutional prohibition It is not desirable ordinarily that a man should stay in office twelve consecutive years as President; but most certainly the American people are fit to take care of the ordinance They should not bind themselves never to take action which under soreat interest to take It is obviously of the last importance to the safety of a democracy that in time of real peril it should be able to co its citizens in the precise position where the service rendered will be hted policy in such event to disqualify absolutely fro it had actually shown the highest capacity to exercise its poith the utmost effect for the public defense If, for instance, a tremendous crisis occurred at the end of the second term of a man like Lincoln, as such a crisis occurred at the end of his first term, it would be a veritable calamity if the American people were forbidden to continue to use the services of the one uess, could carry theh the crisis The third term tradition has no value whatever except as it applies to a third consecutive term While it is well to keep it as a custom, it would be a mark both of weakness and unwisdom for the American people to embody it into a Constitutional provision which could not do theht work real harm

There was one cartoon made while I was President, in which I appeared incidentally, that was always a great favorite of mine It pictured an old felloith chin whiskers, a far before the fire, reading the President's Message On his feet were stockings of the kind I have seen hung up by the dozen in Joe Ferris's store at Medora, in the days when I used to come in to town and sleep in one of the rooms over the store The title of the picture was ”His Favorite Author” This was the old fellohom I always used to keep in mind He had probably been in the Civil War in his youth; he had worked hard ever since he left the arht up his boys and girls to work; he did not wish to do injustice to any one else, but he wanted justice done to himself and to others like him; and I was bound to secure that justice for him if it lay in my power to do so[]

[] I believe I realized fairly well this ambition I shall turn to my enemies to attest the truth of this statement The New York _Sun_, shortly before the National Convention of 1904, spoke of me as follows:

”President Roosevelt holds that his nomination by the National Republican Convention of 1904 is an assured thing He makes no concealment of his conviction, and it is unreservedly shared by his friends We think President Roosevelt is right