TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE WOMAN'S ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION. THE women of America are doing a notable and appro- priate thing. Tney have formed an Association to perpetuate the memory and ideals of Theodore Roose- velt—an Association which will have as its physical objec- tive the buying of the house in New York in which he was horn. In it is to be established a school of civics, where Roosevelt's teachings in the duties of citizenship and the ideals of patriotism will be maintained and developed. Mr. Roosevelt's own feeling as to memorials should be remembered :- " As for those of us who, with failures and shortcomings, but according to our lights, have striven to lead decent lives, if any friends of ours wish to commemorate us after death, the way to do it is by some expression of good deeds to those who are still living."
The scheme therefore may, nay must, be regarded as in direct accordance with his wishes.
We are delighted to learn that a British Committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Lady Lee of Fareham for the purpose of giving not only to Ameri- cans in Great Britain, but to all friends and admirers of Mr. Roosevelt, an opportunity to share in the work of per- petuating his memory. The Memorial Association has been able to replace some of the original furnishings of Roosevelt House, including the bed in which the future President was born, and many of the intimate objects which surrounded his childhood. The School of Civics which is to be formed at the house aims at teaching the coming generation " the joy in the performance of duty and willing- ness to share the burdens of the community at large ' which were characteristic of Mr. Roosevelt.
We should add that life membership of the Association only involves a donation of 5s.—though a larger sum may, of course, be contributed at the will of the subscriber— which may be sent, for transmission to the treasurer, to the Hon. Secretary, Roosevelt Memorial Association, 13 York Street, Covent Garden, W.C. 2. Thus English women and men may mark their appreciation of Roosevelt and his work by a single contribution, and need not feel that there will be an annual call upon them. They will have rendered homage to a great man once and for all.
It is to be hoped, therefore, that though this is primarily an American movement, a considerable number of English women, by birth and residence, and also of Englishmen, will show their admiration and respect for the great Presi- dent by joining the Association. They have no excuse for indulging in that dread of intruding which so greatly, and sometimes so unfortunately, haunts English people. Roosevelt, for all that he was " a 100 per cent. American," if ever there was one, belongs to the English-speaking race as a whole. There was not a principle of action, public or private, insisted on by him which is not as appli- cable and as valuable here as in his own country.
The essential quality in Roosevelt was the spirit of good citizenship. He was a very able politician and party leader. He was no mean orator in a nation where the arts of the rostrum are specially cultivated and under- stood. He was a skilled and powerful administrator. He had a soldier's eye for country and a soldier's heart. What is more, he understood the soldier's spirit as well as did Cromwell. Though a strict disciplinarian, he knew that if you are to get the best out of a soldier you must make him feel a free citizen and not a fighting slave. Roosevelt, again, was a man highly qualified to be the personal representative and head of a great nation. He had the dignity of demeanour, the sense of proportion, the knowledge of the world, the instinct for great affairs, the universality of comprehension necessary to high office.
Yet, great as was Roosevelt in all these matters, it was not the qualities we have enumerated which make, and will continue to make, his memory live in America. Others could rival him or surpass him in the ordinary gifts of statesmanship. Where he excelled was as the good citizen. He made good citizenship an art. He never tired in enforcing by precept and example the duty which men and women owe to the community. No man, as his life and work showed, could be allowed to keep his good citizenship in watertight compartments. He must not say that he had done his best in his district or city or State, or at Washington, and that no more was to be required of him. He must do his duty in all these capacities. Duty accomplished in one sphere would not relieve him of responsibility in the others.
Though Roosevelt was a Whig, an individualist, and a man who hated over-centralization, abhorred administrative tyranny and loathed Etatism, he never failed to pay due homage to the nation personified. To him the Government, as representing the community, was something sacred and revered, not a mere committee to manage tram-lines, roads, and drains. Treason to the State was to him the greatest of crimes. When he talked of the National Honour he meant something very real and definite, and was not merely indulging in a rhetorical flourish. Good citizenship was indeed to Roosevelt a religion, as in a rougher and less conscious way it was to Cromwell and to Lincoln.
Therefore it is most wise of the women of America to select this essential and imperative side of Roosevelt for special commemoration. And it is as appropriate to the commemorators as to the commemorated. To women as the guardians of the home, the teachers and bringers up of children, good citizenship has a meaning of almost pathetic force and poignancy. Where the sense of good citizenship does not exist they cannot do their work or win their victories. Only where good citizenship prevails are the women given a full chance. Therefore it is natural that women should rear a monument to this most masculine of men.
Assuredly the women of America will have the full sympathy of all English women and men, for England, too, loved and honoured Roosevelt, and for the right reasons— not because he was our friend, or because we thought he could help us; not because he was a picturesque figure, or because he sympathized in our Imperial aims and duties, but because he was the good citizen personified.
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