304-47.)
Meanwhile, at the first suggestion that Roosevelt might head a
body of troops himself, letters poured upon him from every State
in the Union, from men of all classes eager to serve under him,
and eager, in this way, to wipe out the shame which they felt the
Administration, by its delays and supineness, had put upon the
nation. Then Congress passed the Draft Law, and, on May 18,
Roosevelt appealed again, this time directly to President Wilson,
offering to raise four divisions. The President, in a public
statement, declared that purely military reasons caused him to
reject the plan. In a telegram to Colonel Roosevelt he said that
his action was "based entirely upon imperative considerations of
public policy, and not upon personal or private choice."
Roosevelt summed up the contention with this flat contradiction:
"President Wilson's reasons for refusing my offer had nothing to
do either with military considerations or with public needs."
Roosevelt issued an announcement to the men who had applied for
service under him--they were said already to number over
300,000--regretting that they could not all go together on their
country's errand, and brushing aside the insinuation of his
enemies that he was merely seeking political and selfish ends.
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