THEODORE ROOSEVELT TELLS OF
In Order-toGet Into "the most Fascinating
Teddy Advises Beginners to "Collect Your
"Collect your own borne district."
BT CHARLES W. DUKE.
CCli y OST fascinating- same In all
'M
the world after you get
Into It," exploded Theodore
Roosevelt Jr. Two clenched fists
came down so emphatically on the
breakfast table' as to make .all the
silver jingle. Two eyes twinkled in
an old-fashioned ' "dee-lighted" way.
Two rows of teeth stood out from a
strenuous smile very much after the
fashion of ' his late beloved father,
as be delivered himself of this pos
itive political panegyric. .
"Biggest game In all the world the
game of government," snapped T. R.
the Second as he buried hie spoon in
a Juicy grapefruit and came up with
a dripping portion. " '
Politics, of course, was the subject
tinder discussion; the Interesting
career that the young Roosevelt, has
mapped out for himself, and the life
work that he Is pursuing with a full
measure of Rooseveltlan punch, per
severance and perspicacity.
I had camped on the trail of the
youthful T. R.as he came in out of
the west, where he had foregathered
with the clans of the American
Legion, and had cornered him at last
In the state capltol at Albany. The
assemblyman from the second New
York district,' embracing the towns of
Oyster Bay and North Hempstead and
the city of Glen Cove on Long Island,
was deeply engrossed in matters of
statecraft when I caught up with him
In the lobby of the Ten Eyck hotel
and followed him into his sanctum
sanctorum up on Capitol Hill.
But he was not too buy to talk of
politics as a field for ambitious young
men seeking to solve the problem ot
the choice of a career. -
"Come, have a bite of breakfast and
we'll have a little confab over the
coffee cups," was his cordial invita
tion an invitation thdt admitted of
no R. S. V. P.'s because of Its com
pelling appeal.
in a minute or two we were seated
In the Capitol restaurant.
"Shall a young man or woman go
into politics as he would Into any
- other business or profession, or shall
he take it up merely as a sideline
with bis other occupational activi
ties?" was the general question pro
pounded by way of opening up the
subject.
Roosevelt, it will be remembered,
announced more than a year ago he
would take up public service as his
life work and "make his father's
ideals his own work." Out of Har
vard, he started first as a clerk in a
Connecticut carpet manufacturing
plant andL then switched to Wall
street, where he became a bond sales
man. Came then the world war, when
he entered the service of his country
and, from an officers' training camp
at Plattsburg, worked his wa up
through the ranks to a colonelcy in
the front-line trenches, where he
. served courageously and was griev
ously wounded in the Solssons cam
paign. Then home, and the decision
to enter politics as a public career.
. And now, after a successful cam
paign that landed him ' In the New
York state legislature the identical
starting point of bis lllustris father
. what would Theodore the Second
say of politics in general and of his
own career.
"Like it I should say I do!" he
chuckled, as he finished off the matu
tinal grapefruit. ' "Greatest game in
tAe world. The more you play it, the
more you want to play. Fascinating
" that's it, every bit as fascinating as
football, war or business. Most as
suredly I enjoy it, else I would not
- be in it.
"You see, I- was brought up in it,"
he laughed, turning back to early
boyhood. "It was all politics in our
home. Politics end more politics; we
had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner,
Sort of raised to it, you know."
It has bCen said Theodore Jr. is a
"chip off the old block." Certainly in
physical characteristics there is much
in common. "When "Teddy" talks
earnestly he has a fashion of closing
his eyes tight, twisting his face into
contortions and pushing out his words
with a crescendo inflection peculiar to
his father.
"Some folks seem to think the ways
. were greased for my entry into poli
tics," was his impromptu digression.
"Nothing of the Bort. Heck! I had
to ge out and work just like any
V
That's the Tray to get Into politics.
other ward worker or countryside
layman. I had nothing handed to me
any more than my father had when
he started out; I would not have had
it otherwise.
"I've run my own little district, but
I had to work for that small precinct
leadership before I landed at the top
there. I worked as a private in the
trenches in my own county, I got into
my own republican club and worked
there, and did all manner of little
jobs of that kind long before I ever
was considered as a candidate for the
assembly.
"You must have the votes and the
delegates behind you before you can
go anywhere in politics," was his con
clusion. "And the only way you get
the votes and the delegates is to in
spire the confidence of your fellow
citizens and. thus enlist their support."
"Then there is no short and easy
way into political leadership?"
"Teddy" , was breaking crackers into
a bowl of milk. He crushed a soda
bisctfit into dust with one squeeze of
his sturdy right fist as he shot back:
"Not when the game is played on
the fair, as it "should be. Leaders are
necessary in politics as in every other
field. But they should come out of
the ranks and stand on their hind legs
through sheer, merit- rather than
through' personal preferment or 'po
litical pull,' as we hear It expressed."
In college, in the army, in the
American Legion, and now in public
life, Roosevelt meets many young
men who are interested in politics.
"A lot of young chaps come to me
and ask how they are to get started
in politics," he continued. "So many
of them have a wrong notion ot the
process involved. They want to- be
gin right off the bat as United States
senators, or something like that. They
are wrong; all wrong.
"What I tell them Is this: Go back
and collect your own home district.
Some think they can sneak in through
the cellar windows: others have a
notion the easiest way is to have a
few friends slip them quietly up by
the back etairs. Nothing doing, I tell
you. Get in on the ground floor as
an ordinary district, doorbell ringer
and then work your way up. In other
words, go home and collect your dis
trict." Just as his father's stronghold was
with the "common peepul" with whom
he mingled in the mines, the marts
of trade and the thoroughfares of life.
young T. R. believes in mixing up
with the "hoi polloi."
In that connection, he tells a story
of a New York mayor who was elect
ed from one of the thickly populated
cosmopolitan districts, a miniature
melting pot section made up of poly
glot Inhabitants. As Teddy tells the
story, this mayor, once in power, in
stead of mixing with home crowds.
turned his attention. to Fifth avenue
tea parties. In the 'end he was re
pudiated by the people he had for
gtftten.
"You've" got to go around to your
Republican club and meet all the boys
and etay with them in their every
battle," was the assemblyman's phllo
sophical summing up for the case of
the ambitious young politician.
Spoken just like another Roosevelt
now resting in the last long sleep
atop Young's cemetery hill in Oyster
Bay! True enough, young Roosevelt's
forte is the people, with whom he
mixes continually and seeks out in
dividually. What more Rooseveltian
apropos than that bill young T. R.
was Introducing in the New York
legislature the week I talked with
him recently; a bill compelling land
lords to open their flats and apart
ments to young married folks with
children on an equal footing with
married folks who practice race sui
cide in favor of pet poodles!
Hearing the colonel exhort young
folks to begin at the bottom of the
ladder in politics instead of trying
to climb in over the second-story
veranda brought to mind the stead
fast manner in which he has insisted
all along in everything that, despite
the name and fame of his father, be
be first entered ae a private in the
ranks and enabled to climb through
his own initiative and merit.
When T. R. was through with col
lege it was reported he was to. step
into a big job in Wall street with the
steel trust. Influential business mo-'
TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIATf, PORTLAND. NOVEMBER 14, 1920
ft fKJ
.-Or
MWe must," and bans; goes the emphatic fist of Will H. Hays, republican
,- about tt In Chicago.
rrJ'X-vr-M .;-Sc. fe- V. - i
te:-. s- ' . vfh 's s ' - -
WiSf '-X f:l rf--, . '- nr. 1
Roosevelt and his family.
guls, it was said, would give the first
born of the then president of the
United States a position of promience.
The answer was, first of all, a shak
ing of the Senior Teddy's "big stick"
and a veritable roar from the White
House to the effect that young T. R
would go it alone and start like any
other commosk, ordinary member of
the herd. As for Teddy the second, he
turned up a day or two later as a
clerical employe of a New England
carpet house and went out into Call-
fornia to hew his way alone as a
salesman. J
All the way -through in the army,'
in business and in politics young
Roosevelt insisted on taking his
chances with tffe crowd.. He wouW
take no commission in the army until
he had proved his mettle at Platts
burg. In business he wrestled with
the petty details ot a clerical job
until he had mastered the principles
of the business. After the war, when
he essayed politics, they talked about
slating him for second place on -the
state gubernatorial ticket, but Teddy
turned it all back and said he would
start as an assemblyman if the peo
ple wanted him. Back in Harvard he
was known as "the most modest man
in college." "
"Would you advise young men gen
erally to take up politics as a career?"
I asked him. Teddy No. 2 has a big
hold among the young men ask any
chap in the American Legion who fol
lowed the democratic yoyng army of
ficerand I knew - what he would
have to say on this score would ap
peal to young men and be accepted as
the friendly counsel of a comrade. A
"Most assuredly," he replied. "A
republic its present and future wel
fare depends upon the average of its
citizens taking part in politics -and
going into the active service of the
republic You are interested in get-
t , ' st - X
The children, Theodore Jr Cornelias and Grace,
ting good roads, good schools,', good
administrators in office and the like.
The only. way you can get them is to
go into politics yourself.
"It's easy to criticize your govern
ment," he continued, "but the man
who stands off and knocks without
lifting a finger to help run the gov
ernment has no kick coming to him.
Get into it!. Your government is no
better than you make it yourself. The
game of politics is wide open to
everybody."
- "Then there should be no false mod
esty about offering your services in
a political capacity?" I suggested.
"Modesty nothing!" he shot back.
"You have as much right to it as the
ovher fellow and more so if you are
better qualified to hold down a public
job. If you want anything, go after it;
that applies equally in politics as in
any other endeavor in life. Person
ally, I know of but one man who was
drafted for public service and that
was Judge Miller, candidate for gov
ernor in New York this fall. .
"If you want the job, announce
yourself as a candidate. Go to it. Re
member that the people are the
judges in the matter. They know
whether you are equipped for the job.
Modesty? Nothing to it. The Lord
helps them who help themselves."
Here he Inserted a "tip" to embryo
politicians and would-be-place hold
ers "Ift a young fellow talks to me
about politics as a career I remind
him at once it is no bed of roses,"
said the colonel. "It is all hard work
as I have found it; mingling constantly'-with
your ' constituents, at
tending meetings, makng speeches,
organizing and more organizing. The
secret of success in politics, as in
business, is organization. I know of
nothing that requires more plain
common-sense business organization
POLITICS AS A
Game in the World"
Own Home District"
cr '.j . t-sv
X
national committee chairman, as lie tells
are much interested In n new kitten.
than politics. It Is the most practical
thing in all the world."
It .was related to me how young
Roosevelt, in his campaign for the
assembly, had followed out bis per
sonal method of organization. While
a Roosevelt and a candidate for the
Oyster Bay district, it might have
been possible for him to have re
mained at home taking it easy and
resting on the family name and
laurels. Not T. R. Jr. Every night
he covered miles, stopping in a half
dozen places to talk to the people.
Like his "dad," he wants to know the
people, and one Of his delights is go
ing from door to door and introduc
ing himself not as a Roosevelt, but
as "your representative" at Albany.
And when any of the home folKs go
to Albany to see him about legisla
tion affecting the interests of the
home folks, he is always available
and with an iron-grip handshake. -
And his motto all the way through
has been "Common sense, common
decency and common honesty.'' More
oyer, as" he said early in the days of
the American Legion, and as he ap
plies it now -to the political field:
"You've got to think how you can
put something Into government, and
not how you can get something out
of it."
"Then, despite the fact that politics
as a game is a very practical propo
sition, every young man contemplat
ing politics as a career should be ac
tuated by an ideal?". I "suggested.
At mention of the word "ideal"
Teddy seemed to wince a bit, and
then with a -grimace of glee side
stepped the word as though mention
of it might plunge him into a par
tisan political discussion of person
alities on the "other side of the fence."
But be steadied instantly and plunged
on. . -' - '
"Every young fellow, while' looking
out for himself in the choice of a
career, ought to have in the back-
tst.y
JUS.
"Teddy"
ground the business of helping the
other fellow as well as himself. Put
the whole proposition on a broad
basis of usefulness and not of a selfish
monetary consideration.
"Aside from its fascination it
grips you as soon as you get into it
I believe that one of the greatest vir
tues of the political field is that it
offers such a wonderful opportunity
to do something worth while.
"Every man wants to be happy at
his work; if he is happy in his job
then he is more apt to make a success
of it than if it is something that Irks
him. As for myself, I am extremely
happy up here."
We were up and away from the
breakfast table and on our way
through long winding corridors lead
ing toward the assembly room. It
I takes some stride to keep up with T.
I R. Jr.. for he Is full of "pep" and
I steps out like Man o' War for the
- grand sweepstakes.
One thing about young Teddy and
in It he is not unlike his "dad" he
sticks by his guns. As he related to
me, in politics you can do one of two
1 things; stick by your own convictions
! and try to interpret the will of your
FAMILY GOAT IN BACK YARD
WILL SETTLE MILK PROBLEM
Josephine Jenks, Daughter of New York Broker, Who Owns Goat Farm,
Declares Goat's Milk Superior to Cow's.
F it is feasible for people of small
to use goat's milk instead
cow's milk in Switzerland, Eng
land, Africa, India and other coun
tries, why is it not feasible for such
folks in the United States to do the
same thing? Such was the thought
of 11 -year -old Josephine Jenks,
daughter of a well-jknown New York
broker, when her father presented her
with a nanny as a pet five years ago.
The thought grew on the child until
goat-raising became a hobby. One
pet did not satisfy her. She induced
her father to buy her more. Then
having them merely as pets did not
satisfy this slip of a girl. She began,
as she grew older, to make a study
of the species until now, at the age of
IS, she perhaps knows more about
goat-raising than anyone else in the
United States. This is certainly so
when it comes to the thoroughbred
animals.
Solve the growing problem of the
distribution of milk in large cities
through the medium of the much ma
ligned goat. Such is the advice of
Miss Jenks, who declares that it is
possible for any city family with a
small back yard to keep a goat or
several of them and profit in health
and pocket book from the milk that
they yield.
"Why shouldn't the goat solve the
current milk problem?" asked Miss
Jenks, as a majestic and hornless
creature with a , beautiful coat of
brown and white approached to haVe
his head patted. "After my five years'
experience as a practical goat raiser
I can see no reason why a family
which has a field or yard suitable for
the purpose should not become inde
pendent of cow's milk, now so very
expensive to city folks, by having its
own lacteal fountain at its very door
step. .
"The constant decrease in France's
cattle reserve, due to the ravages of
the war, has had the effect of restor
ing the industry of vending of goat's
milk on a larger scale than ever be
fore. The rugged appearance of the
children in rural France is due to the
fact that they subsist on 'goat's milk.
But goat's milk is gaining favor"not
only in rural France, but in the most
" T ; , . . . '
Ana me uuBincaa la v'vitts jruLliaDie
there despite the fact that goats in
that country now cost nearly 20 times
as much as before the war.
"In this country tnere is among
some a prejudice against goat's milk
on account of the taste. This, how-
over, can be positively eliminated b
CAREER
Yon ii g Roosevelt's forte Is the peo
ple, t 1th whom he mixes con
tinually. constituency, or go along with the
crowd. For his part, he will "stick
by his guns" from the sero hour right
through toithe finish of the fight.
This he illustrated during my stay
in. Albany by his attitude on the
question of seating the five socialist
assembly members from New York
city. Teddy voted to seat them. Part
of the night before the vote that
ousted the quintet was taken, T. R.
endeavored to round up votes in favor
of the socialists.
"They were ousted, but eventually
they will be seated If they are re
elected," he said. "You cannot go be
hind the law. If this is a govern
ment by the people, and we are to
abide by the. constitutional require
ments, which say the chosen repre
sentatives of the people shall be those
who receive the majority of votes,
then we must adhere to the law. In
voting for them. I voted not for so
cialism, but for the principle of the
law."
Young Roosevelt wants to be
judged by himself and not by his
father. He wants to stand by him
self, and the story that he tells oa
this point Is that when a boy his
father would show them how their
tops spun on their own pegs, and he
would add that he wanted his boys
to "spin on their own pegs."
the selection of the individuals of the
herd and by ordinary care and clean
liness in the goat's stable and the se
lection of proper food. Goats cost
very much less to maintain than cows,
as they are smaller and consequently
eat less than cattle, kin addition they
can be kept in restricted places where
cows cannot for lack of space. A goud
nanny goat should yield, when fresh,
at least two quarts of milk a day,
while the best animals sometimes give
five or six quarts a day. This is a
great deal more than cows give and
the goat's milk is more nourishing
and more digestible, while the ani
mals being on the premises the milk
supply is always available. Added to
these tactiS is the very Important one
that goats are practically Immune
from tuberculosis, which carries off
so many cows whose milk is a con
stant source of danger to human be
ings in consequence.
"Both my father and I regard the
development of milk goats as the nat
ural answer to the continually rising
price of milk. A small family living
in the suburbs can easily keep a goat
where the keeping of a cow would bo
impossible, and in this way the fam
ily supply of milk may be provided
at a cost equal only to the feed pur
chased and, of course, the ordinary
grazing and browsing should provide
the greater part of the food."
In speaking of the food of the-ani-mals
Miss Jenks said that the idea
that a goat will eat anything from an
ouija board to a stick of dynamite is
fallacy. At least her herd will not,
and all in all they are very epicurean
in their tastes. "It may seem a joke,
but It is a fact," she said, "that a
goat is fastidious as to what he eats."
Proof of her contention was almost
Immediately forthcoming, as while
she was talking one of her workmen
a few yards off sliced a piece off an
apple and tossed it to one of the ani
mals. The goat avidiously did away
with it. The man then tdok a bite
of the apple himself and then tossed
the remainder to the goat. The latter
nosed around it, took a sniff or two,
and then ambled off without eating it.
No. second-hand food for him.
Not long after Miss Jenks was pre
sented with her first goat she began
'to delve into accounts of their habits
and origin, their needs In the way of
pasturage, their care during the win
ter roontns and their economic value.
Mr. Jenks pampered the rather
strange whims of his young daughter
and bought her a number of foreign
thoroughbred specimens, some of
which were valued at as much as $500,