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Iessage from Roosevelt
FROM BEYOND THE BORDER
STEBBINS & COMPANY
JA
•
· A
MESSAGE FROM ROOSEVELT
FROM BEYOND THE BORDER
TAKEN DOWN BY
AN AMANUENSIS
STEBBINS & COMPANY
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
1427 Union Street
Copyright, 1922,
by
STEBBINS & COMPANY
1-4-46 mars
Gent. Lib
2-7-45
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
A LETTER
5
13
TO MY FELLOW CITIZENS
15
RECIPROCITY IN INDUSTRY
18
THE POWER OF CROOKEDNESS
26
A BIT OE ADVICE
33
CHRIST IS COMING
40
FOREWORD
The purpose of this foreword is not to present
an argument to prove the reality of communica-
tion between those who have passed beyond the
border and their friends in the material world nor
to attempt to convince the sceptical of the genu-
ineness of the communications that follow. The
various articles must stand upon their own merit,
upon the evidence that they themselves contain.
The aim of this brief account is to narrate some
of the personal experiences that transformed the
writer from an avowed disbeliever in all things
psychic and mystical to an active participator in
psychic experiences. I was not simply sceptical
of these things, but held that any one who pro-
fessed to believe them was either a fool or a
mountebank.
The awakening came in 1913 through a series
of remarkable telepathic communications, in
some of which I was the transmitter, and in oth-
ers the receiver. The first instance was the re-
ceipt, word for word, of the thought of a person
whom I had met for the first time. The force
with which the thought was received and the
strangeness of the experience caused the words
6
A Message from Roosevelt
literally to ring in my ears for hours. Subse-
quently the person in question verified the ac-
curacy of the message received. The experience
led to definite tests, during which on two occa-
sions I was awakened out of a sound sleep by
messages which proved to have been received
with absolute accuracy. The writer sent a mes-
sage from New York to London telepathically,
and on another occasion to central Illinois and
received acknowlegements by letter without hav-
ing mentioned to anyone the fact that such mes-
sages had been sent.
At another time the following was received
telepathically from Illinois at about eleven o'-
clock in the morning:
"Am leaving for New York, will arrive Thursday"
At five o'clock in the afternoon the following
telegram was received:
"Am leaving for New York via Chicago, will arrive
Thursday,"
Thought transferences of as clear and conclusive
a character were carried on with several people,
both men and women, at that time and have
continued down to the present.
Such experiences compelled a certain amount
of reconstruction of beliefs and brought a willing-
ness at least to examine things that had been
brushed aside as unworthy of notice. In Decem-
Foreword
7
ber, 1913, I decided to investigate astrology, and
went to the telephone at once and asked for an
appointment with Miss Evangeline Adams, with-
out giving my name. It was then six o'clock, and
at eight thirty I was in Miss Adams's studio. To
her the horoscope seemed to be particularly in-
teresting, and as a result Miss Adams was instru-
mental in bringing about introductions to people
of kindred tastes who have become permanent
friends. The particular thing in the interview
pertinent to the present narrative was a warning
given to the effect that I was likely to have the
experience of being temporarily absent from the
body, and that I should advise friends not to dis-
turb me in such a case. On February 12, 1914,
the thing actually happened, and was repeated
on the two succeeding days, and would have re-
curred on the 15th had it not been resisted with
all the will power at my command.
The reason for the resistance was the exceed-
ingly exhausting nature of the experiences. Yet
they were abundantly worth the cost, for in
them was given a partial revelation of tremendous
events that were to take place; some of which,
but only a part, have already become history.
Certain very definite lines of work were laid out
for myself, and I was informed that Colonel
Roosevelt would cooperate. My natural inference
8
A Message from Roosevelt
was that I was to be brought somehow into the
circle of aquaintance of the great American and
that he would become interested in the work that
was laid out for me. But the years passed with-
out even a meeting, and then he left us. The re-
sult of this was naturally to throw the whole
matter into doubt in my mind.
But the march of unusual events never ceased
for me. Long before this time messages like the
earlier telepathic communications from friends
and acquaintances here had begun to come from
across the border. Sometimes they were as clear-
ly audible to the inner ear as the shout of a living
person could possibly be. Sometimes they were
mild but always distinct, convincing and with
significance. They were never trivial.
The first of these messages came about eleven
o'clock on a bright Sunday morning in July as I
was sitting in my library thinking intently about
matters of an entirely different nature. It was as
if someone with a physical voice and with a very
clear and forceful enunciation uttered the words,
"You are called, you are called." The indiviual
remained, but without further remarks except
when I undertook to do something; when he said,
"Not yet." Evidently he was working to make
a connection or gain a control of some kind so
that he could give further evidence of his pres-
Foreword
9
ence and power, for in the course of about an
hour he allowed me to write a letter to a friend,
but when I put the pen to the paper I did not
seem to be doing the writing. An unseen force
was directing the thought and supplying the en-
ergy that guided the pen. About four pages
were written in this way, when the control was
withdrawn, and I continued by saying, "Now I
can write my own letter." The two parts of the
letter were in quite different hands.
During the years that followed, the voices
from across the border came at varying intervals,
but always at some significant time and with a
specially significant message. But the most im-
portant fact of these years has proved to be the
intimate daily association with a member of my
own family. Our sympathies were natural and
deep. We worked together, studied together, and
played together, thereby gaining such perfect
understanding of each other, such mental and spir-
itual harmony that physical separation was no
barrier to the interchange of thought and feeling.
In other words, between this daughter and my-
self there developed not only telepathy, but clair-
sentience of an almost perfect nature. A change
in the physical condition, a new joy, or a new
sorrow of one was transmitted to, and understood
by, the other automatically.
10
A Message from Roosevelt
After five years of association in which these
powers had developed, the physical tie was bro-
ken, but the mental and spiritual bond remained
as before, for within a few hours after her pass-
ing she forced a message through the barriers
erected by grief, and brought a comfort that noth-
ing else could have furnished. And from that
time forth the companionship, the conversation,
the study, the work, and even at times the play
have, by means of telepathy and clair-sentience,
gone on without interruption.
Soon after the beginning of these telepathic
conversations with my daughter I decided to
consult a medium to check up, as the thing was
so remarkable that I wondered at times if some
of the messages might not come from my sub-
conscious mind. The medium was an absolute
stranger. During a sitting of two hours she, be-
ing under control, talked rapidly and connectedly
about my affairs, going into the utmost detail.
She described my daughter, told of the thought
interchange between us, mentioned my doubt,
and assured me that the messages were really
thoughts sent by my daughter. All this took place
without any questions asked or information vol-
unteered on my part. Even my inmost thoughts
and feelings were described, intimate arrange-
ments about the home were explained, and little
Foreword
11
forgotten things were called to my attention by
way of evidence. Nothing could have been more
convincing. One example of the minuteness of
the reading will have to suffice. The medium
stated it this way, "Your daughter says, 'You
never get up, papa, but you say good morning
to me,
a fact which was true, though the
greeting was telepathic, not oral.
999
At a later sitting the discussion turned to a
political idea that I had in mind. In answer to a
question my daughter said that Major McKinley
would answer. The next words that came through
the medium were, "I am probably the last per-
son in the world that you expected to hear from,
but I was the first one on this side to get your
idea." After answering the question the speaker
proceeded to explain how I regarded him at
the time of his death.
At a sitting in May, 1920, after a long inter-
view with my daughter which also turned on the
political subject, the statement was made that
Colonel Roosevelt was present and had been lis-
tening to all that had been said. He then spoke,
giving his opinion on the matter under considera-
tion, and concluded by saying: "Take care of
your health. I did not take care of mine, and as
a result left my work unfinished.'
22
After this he came frequently into the home
12
A Message from Roosevelt
with my daughter, and in the course of a few
weeks began dictating letters, with the purpose
of perfecting telepatic communication between
us. During these weeks he came several times
and gave me messages through mediums at pub-
lic meetings. At one of these public meetings
with about fifty people present, he stated to the
company that he had chosen Mr.
mentioning my name, as his amanuensis, to take
down some articles which he wished to give to
his fellow citizens, as he foresaw a grave danger
threatening, and hoped by this means to lessen it.
Some months ago the dictation of the articles
began, the intention being to publish a book of
essays on economic and political subjects. But
since that time Colonel Roosevelt has expressed
the idea that the articles might have a wider cir-
culation and hence a broader influence if issued in
an inexpensive form. Consequently they are to
be published in a series of pamphlets.
Experiences of the past twenty-one months
have convinced the amanuensis that the individ-
ual giving the messages from the other side is
Colonel Roosevelt. The public, however, must
base its judgment on the nature of the articles
themselves. The internal evidence should be the
determining factor.
The Amanuensis
I
A LETTER
My Dear
This letter to you is to be followed by
a message to my fellow citizens of the great re-
public whose every interest is as dear to me as
anything could possibly be. Nothing could be
more distressing, more tragic, to me than to be
cut off from the land which I love. Happy I am
that through you I am in a position to continue
my work of awakening the public consciousness
of America to a realization of its true mission, of
its true place in the great scheme of world prog-
ress. It must assume leadership. To attempt to
dodge or evade that sacred obligation would
be disastrous both for America and the world
at large.
We, you and I, are to be instruments in the
hands of Divine Providence to help bring about
the desired conditions in the United States and
through the United States in the whole world.
It is a glorious work and I am happy to join with
14
A Message from Roosevelt
·
you in undertaking it. We need to get into per-
fectly harmonious atunement, so sensitized that
the least feeling on the part of one will be
per-
ceived by the other. When we get into that
perfectly harmonious rapport we shall be able to
do some wonderful things, things that will make
the whole world pause and think. That's all to
you. Now for message.
-
II
TO MY FELLOW CITIZENS
It is impossible for me to recognize any change
in our real relationship, even though the purely
physical tie is severed. My interest, my thought,
yes, my love are still wrapped up in the country
which served me so well as a place to grow up
and develop in, and which I in turn strove to
serve to the best of my ability. No, there is no
feeling on my part of a severed tie; only a great-
er freedom of action and a broader field of service
for the same great cause, the cause of humanity,
in its slow but sure and steadfast progress toward
the goal of perfect stature to be attained in the
far off years to come.
But in that stage of progress in which we now
find ourselves there is a very definite work to be
done, a very important thing to be accomplished.
It is a work in which each nation, each individ-
ual must play a part, no matter what his attitude
toward it or his desire in the matter may be.
Each can be a help or each can be a hindrance to
the march of events. The question that every
16
A Message from Roosevelt
nation must decide and every individual must de-
termine for himself first is, whether he chooses to
hasten the event or to retard it; and, then, to
what degree he will make his influence felt. He
might like to avoid the responsibility of taking
any part, but he is impotent to do that, for heavy
on every shoulder rests the weight of a coming
crisis. I wish that I might say to my fellow coun-
trymen that the years hold nothing but peace and
serenity after the clouds have entirely dispersed
that gathered thick for the world during the
terrific struggle that so recently culminated
in apparent victory for democratic government
throughout the world. But the victory that shall
mean peace and good will has not yet been won,
and it remains for you, for us Americans, to decide
whether that real victory shall be one that is
gained by our hearts, by our good-will, by our
love of righteousness and practise thereof; or,
whether because we have failed to bring forth
these fruits of true democracy, we must delve
into the horrors of strife again before we can
achieve the victory that will result in the reign
of brotherhood.
I beseech you, my fellow citizens, to give
thought, profound thought, to the problems
that confront you at home, within our own bor-
ders. They are, many of them, exceedingly seri-
To My Fellow Citizens
17
ous, and can lead only to disastrous consequences
unless, through the application of the principles
of brotherly love, those who are ignorant or self-
ish or both are turned from their present courses,
which must lead inevitably to violences such as
America has never known. Stormy days America
has seen, but nothing compared to that which is
possible, nay, certain, if the present tendencies
of capitalist and laborer to fight out their difficul-
ties are persisted in.
It is my purpose, therefore, to write for the
consideration of my fellow citizens, through the
hand of an amanuensis, a series of articles in which
I shall endeavor to the best of my ability to out-
line certain courses of action that may be taken
to avert the greater dangers that are threatening.
If, through these efforts, I shall be able to min-
imize even a little the seriousness of impending
crises, I shall be indeed happy.
III
RECIPROCITY IN INDUSTRIAL LIFE
There is no such thing as reciprocity in
any phase of life unless there is first a willing-
ness, a determination on the part of both parties
to the pact, to surrender something of the ad-
vantages they may hold in certain respects. Rec-
iprocity is based on the idea of compromise,
and only a compromise that is based on gen-
uine surrender of certain advantages for the sake
of the other advantages to be obtained and for
the sake of the mutual understanding to be
arrived at and the good-will to be gained thereby.
Such sort of reciprocity can and should be ar-
ranged, not only between nations, but between
various classes of industrial society, particularly
between those two great and important classes
widely known as capital and labor.
There is to-day in most industries through-
out the world a great gulf yawning between
financial interests and the men who do the
greater part of the labor of production. Such
1
Reciprocity in Industrial Life
19
a difference, in fact, exists that the outlook is in-
deed dark, not only for the two classes vitally
concerned, but also for the nation as a whole.
People of every rank and calling are involved
in the difficulties of the struggle that is now
going on and of the still greater conflict that
is impending. I cannot express myself too for-
cibly on this point, because, unless some be-
nign influence interferes to soften the asperities,
to tone down the baleful sentiments that are now
growing in the hearts of men in this suicidal and
fratricidal class strife, there will come a warfare
that will be more ruinous to all classes of people,
to all conditions of society than the titanic struggle
from which the world has only lately emerged as
a very doubtful victor. The disorganization that
will result from the coming conflict, if it appears
in all the frightfulness that seems, as we view it
from this side of life, to be preparing, will tear
the very foundations from society everywhere,
and everything that has been built up with so
much effort through the progress of unnumbered
years will disappear from the earth as if swept off
by a hurricane. This will surely come unless those
who have it in their power at this time exercise
their influence to the utmost to neutralize the
evil that has been, and is still being, generated.
There is only one antidote, only just one. That
20
A Message from Roosevelt
is peace by conciliation, in other words, reciproc-
ity applied to industry. I mean the application
of the principle of good-will and mutual under-
standing, by the making of whatever grants may
be necessary on the part of the employers of men,
in return for other grants on the part of the em-
ployed. What the grants on the part of indus-
try shall be depends less on what employers think
they can afford to do than on what may be neces-
sary to get in return the good-will of the work-
men. That good-will is the greatest asset that any
business or any industry can possess. It has be-
hind it more productive power, more safe-guard-
ing of the intersets, not only of business itself, but
of society as a whole and of constitutional govern-
ment, than any other force in human society to-
day.
I cannot urge upon business men, particularly
the employers of large masses of men, strongly
enough the necessity for their recognizing the re-
sponsibility that lies on their shoulders to-day
right here in America. America to-day is recog-
nized as a leader of the world.
Mankind is turning its face to these blessed
shores with inquiry. Whether you wish to as-
sume the responsibility or whether you would
prefer to dodge it makes no difference, absolutely
The responsibility is there; it rests upon
none.
Reciprociry in Industrial Lifc
21
your shoulders. business men of America, and it
is impossible for you to escape it. Are you going
to accept it and make use of the opportunity that
is offered you to make this world a better place
to live in? Or, by grasping your own selfish ad-
vantage, which also lies in your power, are you
going to undermine the entire structure of human
society and so become a byword in all time to
come. America looks to you for decision. Which
is it going to be? The choice lies open to you to-
day, but a year from now may be too late. There
is imperative need of action now. I trust that
you, my fellow countrymen, will grasp this criti-
cal moment before it has gone, and turn it into
years of blessing for all mankind.
The question naturally arises to your mind,
what can be done? How can we act to bring about
the beneficent result suggested? The first thing to
do is to take the men into your confidence on
every possible occasion, To hold them aloof cre-
ates a class barrier that is one of the chief causes
of mischief in the business world to-day. Where
people understand each other and wish to be hon-
est, even half way honest, there are few difficul-
ties that arise, and such as come up can easily be
adjusted, because, through understanding, sus-
picion and distrust are already removed.
The next thing that can be done is to give the
22
A Message from Roosevelt
laborer an opportunity to understand more of the
difficulties of carrying on a business, which
means, in turn, giving him a business education.
The more he knows about the business and its
management, the less likely he will be to think
himself capable of running it or of considering
himself the all-important or even the most im-
portant factor in its conduct or its success. Ac-
quaint the workmen with the business and you
remove at the same time another of the chief
causes of discontent, of narrowness. The human
mind is so constructed, so delicately adjusted to
the physical mechanism of the body that narrow-
ness or one-sidedness of occupation or of mental
activity of any kind throws the entire human or-
anization out of balance. The result is discon-
tent, which is the parent of many diseases of
both body and mind. These lead to the moral dis-
orders that afflict society to-day. A very large
part of these afflictions are caused by the mon-
otony of labor under our highly organized and
highly specialized modern industrial system.
Greater variety must be brought into the life of
the laborer if peace is to be restored to the hu-
man race. Without it there is no hope. I adjure
you to act speedily and with whole-hearted good-
will in the matter. It will bring more happiness
Reciprocity in Industrial Life
23
to a distracted world than any other step that
can be taken.
There is one other phase of the subject that
demands particular attention. I refer to the ab-
solute necessity for bringing the laborer into
closer unity with the organization as a whole.
By that I mean that he must be brought into
such an intimate relationship with the financial
side of the business in which he is engaged that
he will feel that all waste is depriving him person-
ally of something that belongs to him, something
that should rightfully flow through the treasury
of the company and form an increase in the pay
envelope at the end of the year or month as the
case may be.
Such a condition can be brought about by ta-
king the standards of production at any given
time as a basis, and decreeing that any and all
improvements in working time or through the
efficiency of men shall result in proportional in-
creases in their wages. It might be definitely ar-
ranged that a certain percentage, which should be
a large one, of all the profits accruing as a result
of a higher grade of workmanship or increased
production should be set aside definitely and
regularly as belonging to the men themselves.
Such a system of profit-sharing would interest
24
A Message from Roosevelt
men in their work, would cause them to look
forward to the day of reward ahead, and would
therefore create an espirit de corps that no long-
er exists in most business organizations to-day. In
addition to this it would result in opening the
eyes of everyone, employer and employee, man-
ager and managed, producer and consumer, to
the true value of co-operation or reciprocity in
business. Moreover, it would be a great benefit
to the nation as a whole in that it would result
in a far happier and a more satisfied class of citi-
zens. It would tend to erase class distinctions,
which are an exceedingly evil-working thing in
a democracy. And it would lead employer and
employee to see that their interests were common
in political affairs, and would therefore work to-
ward the obliterating of the many abuses that
have crept into our political life as a result of the
bitter struggle that has been waged between the
capitalist or the industrial leader and the men
upon whom he depends for the means of carry-
ing on his enterprises.
There is one more thing to be said in this con-
nection. Unless steps are taken quickly and ear-
nestly, with genuine intent to bring about a far
better understanding than exists to-day, a condi-
tion will arise within a short time, as it appears
to us on this side at present, which will make the
Reciprocity in Industrial Life
25
stoutest hearts quail, and men will wonder why
they were so blind, so selfish as to allow things
to go on until the wind had been sown so lavishly
and the whirlwind must be reaped so terribly.
I should like to be able to convince my readers,
in fact every loyal American that what I am say-
ing is the absolute truth and that I am in more
deadly earnest than ever I was in my earthly
life, that my vision is clear, and that my love,
my reverence for my beloved country have grown
and multiplied many fold since my coming over
here, particularly since I have become aware of
the terrible storm cloud that is threatening.
My fellow citizens. I beseech you, awake and
stir yourselves. Open your eyes to things as they
are. See the true condition of affairs and think
the matter out seriously to its ultimate conclusion.
IV
THE POWER OF CROOKEDNESS
In these days there is a great deal written and
a great deal more said about crookedness in poli-
tics. Too much stress cannot be laid on the
necessity of not only talking and writing about
it, but also of actually starting measures to do
something about it. There is no walk in life
that is free from its blighting, its demoralizing
influence. It has honeycombed our political,
economic, social, educational, and even our reli-
gious life.
Crookedness is not confined to any class or
condition of people. It is a question or problem,
not so much of the class or the profession or the
business as it is of the individual and of the gen-
eral social consciousness. Society as a mass is as
much responsible as the individuals that engage
in doing that which is beneath the line of justice
and honor. Both society as a whole and the
individual as such are partners to the wrongdoing
of the type that goes under the term of crooked-
ness in the common parlance of the day.
The Power of Crookedness
27
I do not mean to condemn every man as per-
sonally guilty of active participation by the
foregoing statement, but it is undeniably true
that the man or woman who selfishly stays at
home and gives all his time and effort to attend-
ing to his own personal affairs and interests, leav-
ing the affairs of a general concern to the keeping
of those who are willing, also for personal reasons,
to look after them, is just as responsible for the
results, be they ever so bad, as the one who
actively brings those results into effect. It is
impossible to lay too much stress on the fact that
those who deny the benefit of their advice and
abilities to the general welfare, can in no wise
escape accountability for the results of their
indifference or negligence.
Words fail utterly to express the deep impor-
tance that I attach to this great truth, which is
fundamental in all government, as it is funda-
mental in business and in the professions. No
partner in a business could claim immunity for
the wrongs committed by his firm, if he remained
passive and allowed wrongs to be accomplished
under his name.
Every citizen or would-be citizen is a partner
in the greatest business in the world, the business
of government. Nothing can compare with it as
an agency for developing the abilities, the con-
28
A Message from Roosevelt
sciences, and the humanitarian activities of the
human race. It is the most divinely appointed
institution of all time for the redemption of man-
kind, for lifting him from the depths and placing
him on the heights of understanding and divine
comradeship. That is one of the great lessons
we have to learn. It is one that I have learned
far more clearly since I came over here. It is a
lesson that sooner or later every man must learn.
We are our brother's keeper, look at it as we
may; and the sooner we see and learn this greatest
of all life's lessons, the better and happier will be
ourselves, our children, and our children's chil-
dren forever.
There is one other phase of this subject that I
should like to emphasize. It is the tremendous
effect that this black leaven of crookedness is
having in every phase, in every walk of life. I
have already said there is no station of life that is
not more or less polluted by its noxious working.
It thrives everywhere more by the carelessness
and indifference of men than by their activity,
but it nevertheless gnaws at the vitals of all of
them, of the passive as well as the active. It
destroys the influence of the pulpit, of the press,
and of many an organization that exists sup-
posedly for the uplifting of the race. Why?
Because preachers, editors, and welfare workers
The Power of Crookedness
29
are themselves dishonest? By no means. Many
of them are of the finest type of our manhood
and our womanhood. Most of them have an
honest desire to serve the race. Some of them,
alas that it must be said, are wolves in the sheep
fold. Yet most of these men, good, bad, and
indifferent, are guilty by their neglect, and be-
cause of that neglect to do the right thing at the
right time, most, yes, by far the greatest part of
all their effort is frustrated and brought to
naught.
The result is that thinking people have lost
faith, to a very great degree, in the church, in the
schools, in the newspapers, and in a great many
of our welfare institutions.
But this is not the only disastrous result of the
evil that lurks everywhere under the name of
crookedness. Government itself, the most impor-
tant, I repeat, of them is being shaken to its very
foundations. Yes, the institutions that you and
many of us on this side cherish as the ones that
have opened to the world its greatest possibilities
are being undermined and consumed. The very
principle of democratic government is to-day
being threatened by men who are practicing their
crookedness in the highest and lowest places of
trust and responsibility. And those who allow
these things to go on because they are too busy
30
A Message from Roosevelt
with their own affairs, because they are too
respectable to dabble in what they term dirty poli-
tics, who close their eyes to the palpable evidences
of evil because of a false sense of the shame that
exposure would bring to city, state, or nation, or
because of a fear of upsetting conditions and
causing disturbances in the established routine of
business are linked in a guilty partnership with
those who perpetrate their grossly crooked
schemes on the unsuspecting and the ignorant.
The only guiltless person is the one who through
lack of intellectual endowment is incapable of
perceiving what is going on or of exerting any
influence whatsoever to correct the evils. That
class is very small, indeed.
Another thing that should be burned into the
heart of every true lover of America and of
democratic institutions is this: either America
must cleanse herself and restore the government
to the hands of the people, that she may be a fit
example of the principles of democracy, or her
present place among the nations of the earth will
be taken from her and given to a nation more
worthy.
Let me not seem to be pessimistic. There is in
America the finest class of citizenry that exists
in the world. They are endowed with those
qualities which constitute the highest claim for
The Power of Crookedness
31
the right to lead the world, to lead humanity
toward the goal which it is destined some day
to attain. But they are not organized. They
are scattered here and there as individuals.
They possess the qualities of leadership in a high
degree, if they will only put themselves at the
service of the country by organizing for the
specific purpose of safeguarding the interests of
the republic, which means safeguarding the
interests of the individual man, not the interests
of institutions or of business as such, but those
of the poorest and weakest individuals in the
land. To safeguard the rights of these is to throw
the greatest of all safeguards around all our
institutions and all our legitimate businesses and
vocations.
But the custom, the habit, which the world
has fallen into of looking out for business or the
institution first is fundamentally false and must
result in disaster, and if persisted in will destroy
everything. For business was made for man and
not man for business.
Now, all that is needed for the establishing of
those conditions that are essential to the perpetu-
ation of truly democratic principles on this
continent, is the drawing together into a single
new organization of every man, woman, and
child, who is devoted to those principles of lib-
32
A Message from Roosevelt
erty that actuated the founders of the nation and
which were transmitted to us through the wise
and beautiful example and precepts of Wash-
ington, the founder of the republic, and Lincoln,
the preserver of democracy.
V
A BIT OF ADVICE
There is one message that needs to be given to
the American people, one word that must be
spoken for its good, though the voice of Almighty
God be the only one competent to speak it. Con-
ditions in American politics have drifted along
and have come to such a climax that it will
require the greatest effort on the part of those
whose lives are pure enough and whose hearts
are consecrated enough to extricate the nation
from the dire consequences of the evil things
that have been committed in the name of govern-
ment. There is no government in existence in
the name of which more evils have been done,
more wrongs consummated than in this govern-
ment which we have been taught to revere, and
which we are still teaching our children to respect
and honor.
The wonder is that the scales have not sooner
fallen from the eyes of the millions, and that they
have not arisen in their awful might to smite
34
A Message from Roosevelt
to earth the shackles of the invisible government
that have been so cunningly welded around the
throats of the people in every walk in life.
There is no time to be lost. Events are even
now working to a crisis that may threaten the
very existence of our free institutions and turn
the wheels of democratic government back a hun-
dred years. Right here in the very heart of
America the influences that are preparing the
catastrophe are being fostered by men who are
sitting in the high places of government and are
pretending to be interested in the national honor
and the national welfare. Many of those who
have been most trusted and most depended upon
to look out for the nation's interests are sacrific-
ing those interests to-day to their own petty
differences, to their own private interests, and to
the interests of those who have purchased their
positions of trust and made them a disgrace to
the name of a free people who boast of a demo-
cratic form of government.
There is one step, and only one, that must be
taken if the government of America as the
expression of a sovereign people is to survive the
trials that lie ahead. I repeat it: there is one
way to escape disaster, and there is one way only.
That way is the regeneration of the govern-
ment by turning out of every office those who
A Bit of Advice
35
have attained their positions for greed or private
aggrandizement. Every selfish manipulator of
a public trust for private purpose must be driven
from office, and those offices restored to the peo-
ple. Only those who will accept office as a
matter of service must be sent to legislative,
judicial, and executive positions, whether munici-
pal, state, or national in nature.
Oh, my people, could I speak with the clarion
voice of angels and send this message thrilling
into the soul of every genuine lover of America,
I should be happy; for the dread hour of retribu-
tion for all the wrongs permitted and committed
is near at hand! And alas for those who stand
longer in the way of the progress of righteous-
ness and justice upon earth! They will be swept
like chaff before the whirlwind, and great may
be the harm that they bring to their country in
the ruin that they cause unless they relinquish
their unrighteous hold on the reins of govern-
ment, or the people have courage and foresight
enough to wrest from them at the very first
opportunity the power which they have unscru-
pulously arrogated to themselves.
Mighty are the forces of evil that are at work
with the avowed purpose of undermining the
republic and wiping democratic government from
the earth. Mighty also are the forces of good
36
A Message from Roosevelt
that are struggling to purge it and render it a
pure expression of the great human heart in its
struggle to arise to higher and better things.
Government is, in its proper form, the highest
and most perfect means of expressing the hopes,
the heart-throbs, the true ideals of a people. And
here our American government, inaugurated as
the highest form of democratic expression that
has found place on earth, has been prostituted
through the corruption of political parties and
unholy business alliances, to the base ends of pri-
vate greed and personal advantage.
The day is coming and is near at hand when
every loyal American, every man, woman, and
child who loves the ideal thing for which
America has stood, must band together, to work
for the welfare of the nation as if they were
working for their God, in order to save the ideal
of government by the people from perishing from
American soil. Unless the people so arouse
themselves, be they of native American stock or
of foreign birth, the heritage will be taken away
and given to a people that is more worthy to bear
God's work on to a better termination. Do not
doubt the saying that the voice of the people is
the voice of God, and he who scorns the former is
reproaching the latter.
I cannot state in words that ring clearly
A Bit of Advice
37
enough the fact of an impending calamity. It
stands ready to leap forth unawares and throttle
the nation while it is still dazed and unprepared
Awake, oh, my people! Awake and throw off
the yoke of the strangers and the oppressors that
are sitting in your legislative halls. Awake and
eject from your courts all those who are un-
worthy to interpret the laws justly. The number
of such is legion, and they are holding over you
a power that is appalling, and they are exercising
an influence that is deadening. Shake it from
you as you would shake off the deadening effects
of a drug that was fast numbing you into insensi-
bility. Do not wait a day or an hour that can be
avoided. Strike at every opportunity. Be alive,
be active, let every sense be keen in the search
for these parasites that are eating the life out of
the nation. You have the opportunity at every
election; seize upon it. Let not class, condition,
or religion divide you or blind your eyes to the
real question before you.
If the old parties do not offer you candidates
for office who are above all question, nominate
candidates of your own. In most states the
machinery for this is in existence. Make use of
it at once. If you do not know how to go about
it, find out. There are those who can inform
you. There are others who will join you in an
38
A Message from Roosevelt
honest effort for honest and efficient government.
Do your bit. Put on the armor of honesty and
determination, of faith in the righteous cause,
and you will win. You will hearten others.
You will arouse the instinct of love for America
in the hearts of those who are sleeping. You
will arouse shame, and more than all, you will
awaken fear in the selfish souls of those who are
corrupt, who for a mess of pottage for themselves
are selling the birthright of a great people, and
are bringing it to shame and to the brink of
dissolution.
Again I say, what you can do, do to-day.
Do not wait till to-morrow. To-morrow may be
too late. The forces of corruption among you
and the powers of evil about you are putting off
nothing until to-morrow. Silently, swiftly,
almost feverishly they are entrenching them-
selves to be beyond your power to dislodge.
They are digging in, in a last desperate attempt
to hold on to their evil gains and to continue their
process of plunder that they may enrich the few
at the expense of the millions.
These selfish and unworthy creatures have
crept into places of authority and power only
because the many have been negligent of their
duty, have left undone the duties which they have
owed to the state. He who participates in the
A Bit of Advice
39
blessings of liberty is under a holy obligation to
watch over and protect that liberty as the precious
jewel of his soul. And he who neglects that
sacred obligation is just as responsible for the
evil that comes as is he who actively corrupts the
public interest for his private advantage.
VI
CHRIST IS COMING
My readers will doubtless be amazed to have
me turn preacher and discuss subjects that I
should not have dared to touch upon in earth
life, but our vision is so broadened and the pros-
pects of life are so extended when we open our
eyes upon the fields of life here that we
eagerly seek an opportunity to express ourselves
along some new line of endeavor. And I have
found life here so entirely different from any-
thing that I ever dreamed of while on earth that
a great desire to acquaint my friends with a more
genuine conception of the real facts about the life
beyond the veil has taken possession of me, and
I find some of the old habits and inclinations
growing dim and new ones rapidly taking their
place.
I had thought at first that this book should be
made up of discussions dealing simply with
political and economic subjects, but as I have
grown more at home over here, and have learned
Christ is Coming
41
more of the wonders of life and of the things
which constitute the realities of existence, I have
come to realize that it is impossible to separate
the seeming realities of the earth life, even those
which we have been accustomed to consider the
sine qua non of things, from the higher spiritual
verities, if we are to attain, or even remotely
approach the true ends of earth existence. Sep-
arated from the higher principles, the lower
become a sham and a mockery, and lead to death
and disaster just as surely as those that follow in
the wake of a hurricane or of a volcano in
eruption.
I cannot impress this idea upon those who read
these pages too strongly, for your life is only a
reflection, a shadow of the great reality beyond
the film that shuts off mortal vision. But as the
shadow is, so is the substance. The seeming
good that you choose and cling to and build upon
in earth life furnishes the sure basis for what you
realize over here. You make the choice, of your
own volition, and the harvest over here is the
inescapable result of that voluntary choice. But
remember that roses do not grow upon the stalks
of thistles, and neither does happiness here grow
upon the stalks of the selfishness which has
caused others to sorrow and suffer in the mate-
rial existence.
42
A Message from Roosevelt
There is no fortuity, no game of chance, no
accident in all the wide universe. One great law
governs all, a law which none can escape or cir-
cumvent, a law of justice and at the same time a
law of ineffable mercy. It is the simple law of
cause and effect.
Nothing can come to you or to me or to anyone
else here or there except as the direct result of
one's own choice and one's own acts. The mere
fact that you fail to understand why things come
to you, or what you have done to cause certain
things to come to you, does not in any way
disprove or discountenance the law. A little
observation of the commonest things of everyday
life will disclose the fact that you are doing things
continually the results of which you do not under-
stand, and you wait to see the outcome, recogniz-
ing all the time that there is a law at work, but
that you are ignorant of it. It is this ignorance
of the law inherent in everything that leads us
into most of our difficulties. Yet ignorance of
the law excuses no man. The consequences of
his acts are sure to come to him either there or
here. Escape is impossible. Whatsoever one
sows he reaps with interest compounded annually
or even more frequently.
But there is another side to the law that I wish
to explain. There is a merciful side to this
Christ is Coming
43
inevitable fatality the presiding genius of which
is man's own self. What you sow you reap no
less in good than in evil. The law is not all pun-
ishment, it is just as much a law of reward.
Indeed, we should look at it entirely as a law of
reward, for the seeming evils that come as results
of our false steps are all blessings in disguise.
They are angel voices wooing us back to the right
path, to the way of peace and satisfaction.
There is still another phase of the law that
should make its appeal to those still in earth life,
a side which must make its appeal to them if
they would attain the heights of human endeavor
or reach the haven of contentment when they are
privileged to come here.
This is the idea contained in the doctrine of
atonement. One may help to bear another's
burdens, may help to solve the problem that his
brother has to solve, may lead him along the way
toward the truth; for the law requires that one
who breaks it shall suffer the consequences of its
working until he learns the truth and lives in
harmony with it. The whole problem of life,
both here and there, is to bring our minds and
wills into harmony with the Great Law, for God
is Law, as he is Love and Wisdom. Once we have
attained harmony with the law we cease to suffer
the penalties imposed by the law.
Our friends,
44
A Message from Roosevelt
therefore, may be our saviors and we may be
theirs, by those simple acts of helpfulness, that
point the way toward the truer understanding.
Herein is the law of sacrifice and of atonement
fulfilled. The act of love bestowed at the
expense of personal effort or personal sacrifice
helps to raise the heavy burdens from a strug-
gling brother's shoulders. The burdens there-
fore are borne by the loving friend, but to him
they are light, for he has already learned the law
in that particular respect, else he would be unable
to assist. Thus love fulfills the law for the friend
as well as for oneself, and the atonement has
taken place. Thus it is that Christ comes in the
hearts and lives of men and women on both sides
of the veil.
Do not think that we are idle over here. Here
even more than with you life is activity. Here
we do not need to rest. We do not suffer from
hunger or weariness as you do on earth. The
only hunger that we know is mental and spiritual,
but these we satisfy here as readily as you are
able to quench your thirst or satisfy your physi-
cal hunger by means of material food. So it is
that your life is a mere shadowy reflection of our
life over here. But through it all runs the Law
of Justice, accompanied by the quality of mercy,
which is the spirit of the Christ. It is manifest-
Christ is Coming
45
ing ever more and more in both worlds, for it
cannot manifest in one without having its coun-
terpart in the other. It is sinking down into
the hearts of men everywhere, and thus Christ is
coming day by day, and will continue to come
until all are brought into harmony with the Law,
which is the Will of the Father Himself.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 07463 8803