CHAPTER XVI

THEODORE ROOSEVELT A HERCULES-BIG STICK-NATURALIST-AUTHOR

I

N Theodore Roosevelt we have so many great men combined in one that ordinary words and meas

urements do not justly describe him. Looking backward to find a parallel for him, we must go to the earliest history of Greece, to the mythical man called Hercules, son of the gods, powerful alike in body, mind and soul, the mightiest that Greece or the world could produce. Their classic poets pictured him as the symbol of power, wisdom and virtue.

The similarity between the Hercules of classic story and Roosevelt, our modern Hercules, is thus seen. The ancient hero was a noted pugilist; he was taught fighting by Castor; he was the best shot of the nation, and defeated in archery his teacher, Eurytus, and his three sons, who held the record up to that time. He was taught driving by Autolycus and surpassed all other charioteers. A fine scholar, he learned wisdom from Minerva. He was the most famous of hunters and was happiest when he was killing lions and other man-eating beasts. He was a great patriot, slaying a hostile king and delivering the nation from a heavy annual tribute. He was a benevolent man and busied himself in protecting the people of his country from wild beasts and other dangers. He carried a big stick, sometimes of brass, but usually a

large wooden stick, with a big knot on the upper end of it, which he himself cut out of the forest.

In most of the figures which we have preserved to this day Hercules holds that big stick in his hand. He was the symbol of the Greeks' most powerful man. His weapon was strong enough and ever ready to hammer down the wrong and to protect the right. The parallel is not only in the equipment, but also in the marvelous deeds of the hero.

The king of Argus and Mycenae was so jealous of the rising popularity of this great hero that he imposed upon him twelve tasks, each of which was supposed to be impossible. These are celebrated in mythology as the Twelve Labors of Hercules. The gods compelled him to undertake these twelve tasks, impossible to mortals, but equipped him for the performance of the miraculous deeds. He received from Minerva a coat of arms and helmet, from Mercury a sword, from Neptune a horse, from Jupiter a shield, from Apollo a bow and arrows, and the big stick.

The following are the twelve labors imposed upon Hercules: 1, He killed the lion of Nemæa. 2, He killed the Hydra. 3, He caught the swift stag with golden horns and brazen feet that haunted the neighborhood of Oenoe. 4, He brought alive to the king the wild boar which ravaged his realm, and destroyed the Centauri. 5, He cleaned the Augean stables. 6, He killed the carnivorous birds of Lake Stymphalus. 7, He captured the wild bull that laid waste Crete. 8, He captured the man-eating mares of Diomedes. 9, He obtained the girdle of Queen Hippolyte. 10, He killed the monster Geryon and set up the Pillars of Hercules at Gibraltar. 11, He secured the golden apples of the Hesperides. 12, He dragged on earth from Hades the three-headed dog Cerberus.

There are more than twelve miraculous labors of our modern Hercules, but twelve stand out most prominently.

FIRST-Our Hercules became the head of the nation. The ancient hero never did so great a thing as to become the ruler of the greatest nation of the world. With all his power, it is not recorded that he had any political favor or that he ruled any kingdom.

SECOND-He killed the spoils system, which threatened to overthrow the nation. The ancient hero turned the river into the Augean stables and cleaned them, but that was not as great a wonder as the cleansing of American politics by Theodore Roosevelt.

THIRD-He used the big stick in crushing the illegal combinations of wealth which menaced the republic.

FOURTH-He dug the Panama Canal-a greater wonder than all the twelve labors of Hercules, and equal to the seven wonders of the world.

FIFTH-He settled the coal miners' strike. The miners in the anthracite district of Pennsylvania went on a strike which threatened to tie up the industries of the nation. Grievances on the part of employees and employers were deeply cherished and apparently irreconcilable. Passions were stirred to the highest degree and bloodshed was feared. President Roosevelt had no governmental commissions that he could use in the settlement. He had to take the matter up personally with the workmen, the proprietors and everybody concerned, and by his magnetism and powerful will he brought the two factions together, averted a tie-up in the nation and gave peace to the coal industry for years.

SIXTH-He secured the settlement of the war between Russia and Japan. While the desperate war

was raging between Russia and Japan in 1905, President Roosevelt addressed through John Hay, his Secretary of State, a letter to the Emperor of Japan, and another to the Czar of Russia, suggesting that their interests as individual nations and the good of the world could be best served by closing the war, and suggested that peace commissions be appointed by each country, and that he himself would lend his kind offices in bringing about an amicable settlement.

That peace commission began its conference at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on August 10th. After about a week's conference the commission came to a dead-lock and President Roosevelt used his great personal influence on the home governments and broke it. For this service in securing peace, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which was $40,000 in cash, which he gave to a society for aiding our American soldiers.

At a dinner given by the Japanese Club to Baron Makino, Ambassador with the Japanese Peace Mission, just after Mr. Roosevelt's death, the Baron said: "Mr. Roosevelt materially aided in the settlement of the issues raised by the Russo-Japanese War and in the amicable adjustment of international difficulties growing out of California's action regarding Japanese residents. When Japan had proved herself and the prowess of her soldiers and her navy," said the Baron, in reference to the conflict with Russia, "the convention was called and the conclusion of the terms which brought about an honorable peace was due greatly to the broad, straightforward, generous and even noble attitude taken by President Roosevelt. The death of Colonel Roosevelt leaves a gap in the ranks of men who have made the history of the world. As the friend of Japan he had been consistent in ren