Part 5

The Commissioner was interested--brave men always attracted him. He asked to see the young man, who was a Russian and who had some years ago come to America during one of the waves of persecution in the realm of the Czar. He had been studying in the association classes for some time and wanted employment. Physically he was of the right type, and he passed his examination for the force.

He made one of the best policemen in the city, and in consequence of his pay he was able to provide for his mother and his old grandmother and to start his small brothers and sisters in life. Said Colonel Roosevelt, “He was already a good son and brother, so that it was not surprising that he made a good policeman.”

Roosevelt’s strenuous and novel methods soon began to count. Instead of being tools of blackmailers, the men became self-respecting and “straight.” It became a badge of honor to be known as a “Roosevelt cop.”

Mr. Enright, the present Chief of the New York Police Department and an old member of the force, testifies to the remarkable executive ability shown by Roosevelt. “He was the first Commissioner to inaugurate a strict civil service examination,” said Mr. Enright, “and he sent out a letter requesting 1,000 young men through the state to enter the examination and become members of the force. He tested them very severely, asking questions on history and geography. One of his questions was to name five states west of the Mississippi River and give the capitals. Another was to name five consecutive Presidents.

“He made drastic rules to enforce the excise law in those days, and on many Sundays used the whole Police Department in his work by placing a uniformed patrolman in front of the door of every saloon.”

Another warm admirer of Colonel Roosevelt is Captain Bourke, who received from Roosevelt his first promotion after he had arrested Mike Callahan, owner of a saloon at Mott Street and Chatham Square, who had been violating the excise law. Callahan was credited with being immune to arrest, due to his influence with politicians, and Bourke made the arrest after he had been only six weeks on the force. It was rumored that Bourke would be dismissed for his act, but when Callahan was arraigned and convicted Bourke was promoted.

Certain elements of the city rebelled against Roosevelt’s rigid enforcement of the excise laws and organized a parade in protest. A reviewing stand was built and, unknown to the promoters, Colonel Roosevelt slipped into the stand. At the head of a division was a stout German--a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War. Roosevelt’s endeavor to deprive him of his Sunday beer had aroused his wrath and as he passed the platform he shouted scornfully in German:

“Now, where is that Roosevelt?”

Mr. Roosevelt, leaning over the side of the stand, queried, also in German:

“Here I am. What will you, comrade?”

The astonished German when it dawned upon him that Roosevelt had heard him, raised his hat and shouted: “Hurrah for Roosevelt!” Roosevelt’s good humor caught the crowd. The cheer was repeated and the demonstration turned to one for the commissioner instead of against him.

On one occasion when Roosevelt was on a night tour of investigation, he walked around a certain beat three times without being able to find his man. Just as he was about to leave, a quarrel occurred in a cafe and the owner came out on the sidewalk and knocked with a stick as a signal that he needed police protection. Three times he rapped, but the policeman did not come. Roosevelt heard him say:

“Where in thunder is the scoundrel sleeping? He should have told me that he had given up sleeping in the barber shop so that I could have found him.”

The next morning the policeman received a summons to headquarters to explain why he had changed his sleeping place.

It is also told of Roosevelt that an anti-Hebrew lecturer, intending to denounce Jews, asked for police protection at a lecture. The protection was promised and sent--thirty Hebrew policemen, whose presence so awed the speaker that his lecture became quite tame.

The attachment of members of the Jewish race for Roosevelt was illustrated at his funeral. The one man who was permitted to sit alone in the trophy room at Sagamore Hill, with the body of the Colonel, was Lieutenant Otto Raphael of the New York Police Force, a Hebrew of the East side. Mr. Roosevelt, in his biography, describes Raphael as “a powerful fellow with a good-humored face. He and I were both ‘straight New Yorkers,’ to use the vernacular. To show our community of feeling and our grasp of the facts of life, I may mention that we were almost the only men in the Police Department who picked Fitzsimmons as a winner over Corbett.”

Captain William B. Sullivan, now in command of the Gates Avenue Police Station, Brooklyn, who served as bodyguard to Roosevelt while he was Police Commissioner, attests that Roosevelt was a born policeman. “There wasn’t a man in the department,” said Sullivan, “that he didn’t know by name.”

While prosecuting his fight for the enforcement of the Sunday laws, Roosevelt made the police enforce a regulation which declared that ice must not be sold after 10 o’clock in the morning on Sundays. This proved to be a real hardship to the masses of the East side. A strong appeal was made to the commissioner to be less severe in the prosecution of this law, but he felt that he was in the right and kept to his course.

Then a reporter wrote a story of the death of a little girl in a tenement on the East Side. The narrative said that the mother had gone to buy ice for her after 10 o’clock on Sunday morning and that the iceman was arrested for selling it, and in the mother’s absence the child was said to have died.

This tale proved to be nothing more or less than a fable, written to show what could happen under the continued enforcement of this law. Roosevelt furiously denounced both the reporter and the editor of the newspaper which published this story, yet he soon withdrew his opposition to the selling of ice on Sunday. He said that he had received more than two hundred letters because of the story and that some of the women who wrote him declared that they would like to tear him to pieces.

In spite of the many bitter battles Roosevelt faced as Police Commissioner, he never lost his kindness of heart. He found one gray-haired veteran who had saved twenty-eight lives at the risk of his own. All of the recognition he had earned from the Police Board for this heroic deed was the privilege of buying a new uniform at his own expense, after he ruined his old one in the rescue of the lives.

The Police Board resolved, at Roosevelt’s request, that the clothes ruined in rescuing a life on duty should be paid for by the department.

Children found him always a warm, helpful friend. When things happened in their neighborhood that did violence to their youthful sense of justice, they came to him with their complaints and, if it were at all possible, he adjusted them.

His enemies tried many times to “get something on him.” One night they had him shadowed, thinking to catch him off his guard. News came to him of their attempt. He bridled with indignation. “They found me going home to my babies. Let them make the most of that,” he cried.

While Police Commissioner, Roosevelt acted also as a member of the Department of Health. Here, working hand in hand with Jacob Riis, he did much to make conditions better for the poor. In those days it was the children that were the greatest sufferers from the lack of health laws.

While on his night visits Roosevelt went into dark courts and entered foul tenements to discover for himself the misery that lay within their walls. At his recommendation, the worst of these shacks were bought by the city and torn down. Fire-traps and disease-holes were abolished. Public playgrounds and parks in the crowded districts were laid out. Even in such good work Roosevelt met with opposition. He was sued by two landlords who had been forced to tear down their old buildings, but the court upheld his action.

Throughout his term of office he followed the rule he had inaugurated while Civil Service Commissioner of giving the widest publicity to everything that went on in his department. He gave full access to newspaper men so that the public could know exactly what was going on. Any one could visit him in his own office and he tried to help everybody who desired help.

Roosevelt’s attitude toward the commercialized social evil in the red-light districts was one of determined and unwavering opposition.

In his autobiography he states that he considered the social evil the saddest part of his police work. He made it a rule to treat the men caught in raids on houses of ill fame precisely as the women were treated. It was his belief that by treating men and women on an exact equality for the same act much could be done to minimize the evil. His judgment was that the same moral level for both sexes must be achieved by raising the standard for the man and not by lowering it for the woman.

As a remedy for these evils Roosevelt advocated higher wages for girls, early marriages and a co-operation of nation, state and municipality to crush commercialized vice.

The verdict of history was that Roosevelt was in advance of his time in his battle for righteousness within the police ranks of New York. He did a great work, but the job he had undertaken would have worn out a hundred Roosevelts.

He resigned from the department on April 17, 1897, to accept an appointment from the McKinley administration as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

VII

Roosevelt’s Influence on American Naval Affairs

In 1897 the menace of war hung heavy above America. Spain’s barbarous rule in Cuba had stirred the American conscience. It became plain that it was the duty of America to become the protector of the sunny island that cried out to it for deliverance from the oppression of the Old World power.

Cuba, under Spain’s management, was a pest hole of yellow fever. Her government was vile and corrupt. The Spanish rulers crushed remonstrances with blood and iron.

A new American navy was then being built. Before it began, Roosevelt himself said, America was not in a position to fight Spain or anyone else. Timidly and haltingly, contrasting strongly with America’s present-day naval programme, the work had been begun by the country. The need was felt for a man of energetic character, modern methods and foresight to put the fleet in condition for war. Roosevelt’s work as Police Commissioner had made him famous throughout the country, and the nation met with hearty approval President McKinley’s appointment of him as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

It was Senator H. C. Lodge, of Massachusetts, a long and close friend of Roosevelt, who worked hardest for his appointment. Fifteen years before, Roosevelt had written “The History of the Naval War of 1812,” and since that time had taken a deep interest in the navy.

He was a strong opponent of that class of impractical men typified by a Senator who, in answer to a question as to what we would do if we were suddenly attacked by a foreign power, replied:

“We would build a battleship in every creek.”

Roosevelt, in his autobiography, thus describes how gingerly the American people went about the work of building the ships that later won the battle of Santiago Bay:

“We built some modern cruisers to start with, the people who felt that battleships were wicked compromising with their misguided consciences by saying that the cruisers could be used ‘to protect our commerce’--which they could not be, unless they had battleships to back them.

“Then we attempted to build more powerful fighting vessels, and as there was a section of the public which regarded battleships as possessing a name immorally suggestive of violence, we compromised by calling the new ships armored cruisers, and making them combine with exquisite nicety all the defects and none of the virtues of both types. Then we got to the point of building battleships.

“But there still remained a public opinion as old as the time of Jefferson which thought that in the event of war all our problem ought to be one of coast defence; that we should do nothing except repel attack; an attitude about as sensible as that of a prizefighter who expected to win by merely parrying instead of hitting.

“To meet the susceptibilities of this large class of well-meaning people we provided for the battleships under the name of ‘coast defence battleships,’ meaning thereby that we did not make them quite as seaworthy as they ought to have been, or with quite as much coal capacity as they ought to have had. Then we decided to build real battleships.

“But there still remained a lingering remnant of public opinion that clung to the coast defence theory, and we met this in beautiful fashion by providing for ‘seagoing coast defence battleships,’ the fact that the name was a contradiction in terms being of very small consequence as compared to the fact that we did thereby get real battleships.

“Our men had to be trained to handle the ships singly and in fleet formation, and they had to be trained to use the new weapons of precision with which the ships were armed.

“Not a few of the older officers, kept in the service under our foolish rule of pure seniority promotion, were not competent for the task; but a proportion of the older officers were excellent, and this was true of almost all the younger officers.

“They were naturally first-class men, trained in the admirable naval school at Annapolis. They were overjoyed that at last they were given proper instruments to work with, and they speedily grew to handle their ships individually in the best fashion. They were fast learning to handle them in squadron and fleet formation; but when war with Spain broke out they had as yet hardly grasped the principles of modern scientific naval gunnery.”

While bearing the title of Assistant to Secretary of the Navy John D. Long, Roosevelt’s work was soon felt in every department of the navy. He found out that many evils had grown up that would seriously handicap the department if suddenly brought face to face with the problem of preparing for war. He therefore began a thorough overhauling of the various bureaus, cutting red tape in every direction. The list of merchant vessels that could be drafted for an auxiliary navy was incomplete and full of errors. This he revised.

Meanwhile the good offices extended by the United States to bring about peace between Spain and the Cubans who had rebelled against her tyranny were refused by Spain. She even refused to consider selling Cuba to the United States. The natives cried to the United States for help.

The commercial interests of our country in Cuba also required protection. Public opinion began to demand armed intervention.

President McKinley, a man wholly inclined to peace, hesitated. Roosevelt, however, had become convinced that the interests of humanity required a declaration of war against Spain. He felt that Spain should be made to withdraw from American soil. He cited the Monroe Doctrine as one of his chief reasons.

Francis E. Leupp, in his book “The Man Roosevelt,” thus describes Roosevelt’s attitude at this time:

“One Sunday morning in March, 1898, we were sitting in his library discussing the significance of the news that Cervera’s squadron was about to sail for Cuba, when he suddenly rose and brought his hands together with a resounding clap.

“‘If I could do what I pleased,’ he exclaimed, ‘I would send Spain notice today that we should consider her dispatch of that squadron a hostile act. Then, if she didn’t heed the warning, she would have to take the consequences.’

“‘You are sure,’ I asked, ‘that it is with unfriendly intent that she is sending the squadron?’

“‘What else can it be? The Cubans have no navy; therefore the squadron cannot be coming to fight the insurgents. The only naval power interested in Cuban affairs is the United States. Spain is simply forestalling the “brush” which she knows, as we do, is coming sooner or later.’

“‘And if she refused to withdraw the orders to Cervera’--

“‘I should send out a squadron to meet his on the high seas and smash it! Then I would force the fighting from that day to the end of the war.’”

The President’s Cabinet was divided in its opinion. The President himself, surrounded by men of different views, remained in a quandary.

One day the President learned that Roosevelt had stated what course he would pursue. McKinley sent for Roosevelt and heard his plans.

Later in the day, at a Cabinet meeting, McKinley remarked:

“Gentlemen, not one of you have put half so much enthusiasm into your expressions as Mr. Roosevelt, our Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He has mapped out a programme for the impending war!”

“Let’s ask him to explain it!” one of the secretaries said, rather jocosely.

McKinley sent for Roosevelt and asked him some leading questions. Roosevelt urged that Spain be warned that she must take the consequences if the fleet came to our waters. McKinley remarked that, as the country was still at peace with Spain, to interfere with her fleet would be an act of war. Roosevelt replied that Spain should be made to understand that the sending of her fleet to America would be considered by us an act of war. Roosevelt then launched upon his war plan. With characteristic gestures and expressions he set forth what he would do to Spain if she did not consent to the just demands of the United States.

The members of the Cabinet complimented him, patted him on the back, and, as he bowed himself out, wondered whether this was just a radical young enthusiast or indeed a born leader. Some of them afterward told of the scene in the Cabinet chamber, and the tale was gossiped throughout official circles as a good joke on Roosevelt.

Meanwhile, with the care of the fleet resting largely on his shoulders, Roosevelt toiled to secure from Congress appropriations that would put it in first-class fighting condition.

Interesting, in view of our modern naval appropriations, is the following incident in Roosevelt’s battles to secure naval appropriations:

On one occasion he asked for $500,000 for the purpose of buying ammunition. Congress gave it to him. A few months later he asked for $800,000 more. Congress asked what had become of the first $500,000.

“We spent it for powder and guns used in target practice,” said Roosevelt.

“What will you do with this $800,000?” a Congressman queried.

“Spend it in the same way,” Roosevelt promptly replied.

He got the money.

In addition to improving the marksmanship of the navy Roosevelt also took many other important steps in preparation for war. Feeling that the United States must soon land troops in Cuba, he bought and equipped transports. He found jealousy existing between regular officers and engineer officers, and worked hard to remove this. He formed the United States warships stationed on the Atlantic into one squadron and drilled them so that they could act in concert if war came. He selected depots for fuel, provisions and munitions.

When Admiral Dewey found coal and ammunition at Hong Kong at the outbreak of the war, and was thus enabled to reach Manila a week ahead of his time, it was due to the foresight and energy of Roosevelt that this was accomplished.

There were profiteers in those days, too. Roosevelt, in buying ships to carry naval supplies, found himself forced to do business with them. Ships were scarce, and sometimes those available were offered by their owners at exorbitant prices. Here is the way Leupp heard Roosevelt handle a lawyer who was representing one of these extortionate firms:

“Don’t you feel ashamed to come to me today with another offer after what you did yesterday? Don’t you think that to sell one rotten ship to the government is enough for a single week? Are you in such a hurry that you couldn’t wait even over Sunday to force your damaged goods upon the United States? Is it an excess of patriotism that brings you here day after day in this way or only your realization of our necessities?”

“Why our clients”----began the lawyer.

“Yes, I know all about your clients,” burst in the Assistant Secretary. “I congratulate them on having an attorney who will do work for them which he wouldn’t have the face to do for himself. I should think, after having enjoyed the honors you have at the hands of the government, you’d feel a keen pride in your present occupation! No, I don’t want any more of your old tubs. The one I bought yesterday is good for nothing except to sink somewhere in the path of the enemy’s fleet. It will be God’s mercy if she doesn’t go down with brave men on her--men who go to war and risk their lives, instead of staying home to sell rotten hulks to the government!”

Finally war came. The battleship Maine on February 15, 1898, was blown up in Havana Harbor and 260 American sailors were killed.

Afterward a court of inquiry met to determine what had caused the explosion. The jury disagreed. Be that as it may, the spark had been applied to the powder magazine. America was in a convulsion--its voice was for war.

On April 20 President McKinley declared war on Spain.

ROOSEVELT CHAMPIONS DEWEY

Roosevelt had suggested that when war came it would be wise for the United States to seize the Philippine Islands, then under Spanish possession. He it was who, when the War Department proposed to supplant Dewey, successfully urged that he be retained at the Asiatic station. “Keep the Olympia! Provide yourself with coal,” he cabled to Dewey at this time.

No sooner had President McKinley declared war than Roosevelt sent a still more vital message to Dewey, ordering him to sail into the port of Manila and to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet.

Those who, at the Cabinet meeting, scoffed at Roosevelt’s plan for a war now remembered that he had advocated this very act in his programme and that the officer who had so splendidly captured Manila was the very man Roosevelt had managed against strong opposition to keep on the job.

Roosevelt’s reputation as a picker of men was further illustrated at this time by the interest he took in Lieutenant Sims, then American naval attaché at Paris.

Sims had written to his superiors letter after letter pointing out how backward our fleet was in marksmanship. He had definite plans for teaching Yankee sailors how to shoot. Those in authority considered Sims an alarmist, but Roosevelt grew concerned as he noted the small proportion of hits to shots made by our ships. He then sounded the slogan that “the shots that hit are the shots that count.”

Roosevelt could do little then in support of Sims, but when he became President he remembered Sims and appointed him to lead in revolutionizing the fleet’s training in marksmanship. It was due to Sims--now the admiral who has served this country so well in the present war--that the fighting efficiency of the navy, as far as gunnery went, became three times more effective.

The following account and appreciation of Admiral Dewey’s work derives a special interest from the fact that it was written by Colonel Roosevelt shortly after the battle of Manila:

“Admiral Dewey was sent to command the fleet on the Asiatic station primarily because he had such a record in the past that the best officers in the navy believed him to be peculiarly a man of the fighting temperament and fit to meet emergencies, and because he had shown his willingness to assume heavy responsibilities.