The Triumphant Life of Theodore Roosevelt edited by J. Martin Miller

172 THE PRESIDENT STARTS ON HIS TRIP
an accompaniment fm- a nation as for an individual. The man who talks ill of his
neighbors, the man who invites trouble for himself and them, is a nuisance. The
stronger, the more self-confident the nation is, the more carefully it should guard
its speech as well as its action, and should make it a point, in the interest of its
own self-respect, to see that it does not say what it cannot make good, that it
avoids giving needless oflfense, that it shows genuinely and sincerely its desire for
friendship with the rest of mankind, but that it keeps itself in shape to make its
weight felt should the need arise.
That is in substance my theory of what our foreign policy should be. Let us
not boast, not insult any one, but make up our minds coolly what it is necessary to
say, say it, and then stand to it, whatever the consequences may be.
ARRIVAL AT MILWAUKEE
The President's special arrived at Milwaukee at 2 p. m.,
where a reception committee, headed by Mayor Uavid S. Rose,
greeted the Chief Executive. Carriages were taken and a
drive to the Soldiers' Home followed, where two thousand
veterans were reviewed by the President, who afterwards
addressed them briefly. On his return to the city, ten thou-
sand people greeted Mr. Roosevelt in the Exposition Build-
ing; a chorus of six hundred voices sang national airs and,
after Mayor Rose had given an address of welcome, the Presi-
dent made a short speech, in the course of which he said,
calling attention to the many nationalities present:
Woe will beset this country if we draw lines of distinction between class and
class, and free and free, or along any other lines save those which divide good
citizenship from bad citizenship.
Following these exercises, the presidential party was
tendered a reception by the Deutscher Club. In response to
the toast by the president, Mr. Roosevelt said he would
endeavor during his administration to preserve peace at home
and abroad. At the Milwaukee Press Club the President was
given a certificate of honorary membership; he also inscribed
his name with chalk on one of the panels of the wainscoting,