April 4, 1917.
My dear Theodore: -
As I telegraphed you, your telegram went to the House.
I was at the
Capitol all day after the Senate adjourned,pre-
paring a little speech which I made this
morning. I send you a
rough,uncorrected proof that you may look it over
and although
very brief I think you will find that it preaches our
doctrine.
It was a great disappointment to miss you,for if I had got
your
telegram I could have arranged to see you as well as not and I
should care for nothing so much at this moment.
The pacifist crowd I went out in the corridor to speak
with was composed of one
woman and half a dozen men. They were
very violent and very abusive and I was
engaged in backing away
from them and saying that we must agree to differ when
the Ger-
man
member of their party said "You are a damned coward". I walked
up tp hit and said "You are a damned liar" and he hit me and I
hit him. Then all the pacifists rushed at me and I thought I
was in for a bad time buy my
secretaries sallied forth to my
rescue and there was a mixup. The pacifist who
attacked me got
badly beaten up and it all ended very comfortably and without
hurt to me. At my age there is a certain aspect of folly about
the whole thing
and yet I am glad that I hit him. The Senators
all appeared to be perfectly
delighted with my having done so
and some of them told me today that the further
one went from
Washington the more complete my action seemed.
Watson said that
in Indiana the
general belief was, he gathered, that I had beaten
general belief probably was that I had killed him,- all of which
for the moment has made me extremely popular.
Ever yours,
[Subscription (recipient's name at end of letter)]
Hon.Theodore
Roosevelt,
Oyster Bay,N.Y.