Incidentally, I suppose I
need hardly say that one measure of your fitness must be your clear
recognition of the need always steadily to strive to render yourselves
more fit; if you ever grow to think that you are fit enough, you can
make up your minds that from that moment you will begin to go backward.
"As a war-machine, the fleet comes back in better shape than it went
out. In addition, you, the officers and men of this formidable fighting
force, have shown yourselves the best of all possible ambassadors and
heralds of peace. Wherever you have landed you have borne yourselves
so as to make us at home proud of being your countrymen. You have shown
that the best type of fighting man of the sea knows how to appear to
the utmost possible advantage when his business is to behave himself on
shore, and to make a good impression in a foreign land. We are proud of
all the ships and all the men in this whole fleet, and we welcome you
home to the country whose good repute among nations has been raised by
what you have done."
APPENDIX A
THE TRUSTS, THE PEOPLE, AND THE SQUARE DEAL
[Written when Mr. Taft's administration brought suit to dissolve the
steel corporation, one of the grounds for the suit being the acquisition
by the Corporation of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company; this action
was taken, with my acquiescence, while I was President, and while Mr.
Pages:
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914