I would like to ask Mr. Roosevelt quite clearly exactly what his views of the Christian conscience are in these questions of morality, for our good Savior was a pacifist and lover of the poor, a defender of the poor. But our Savior was also forgiving, and I am not here to judge or condemn Mr. Roosevelt, merely to ask him to explain his actions and to engage in the gentlemanly debate. For make no mistake, the Progressives are strong, we are organized, and we are fielding candidates for Congress, for the Senate, the House of Representatives, even for the Presidency. As our esteemed guest, Mr. Roosevelt has great experience in these manners, I am hopeful he will enlighten us with his wisdom and also entertain!

I thank the great author for his introduction and compliments. I am sure that our boys give thanks to him and his great novels, for I have seen his novels of “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” in their hands on numerous occasions and even in their bags as they carried them to war and battlefield. So, Mr. Mark Twain is a soldier’s writer and we all respect him for what he has made America, a proud nation, proud and strong, with a love of liberty and a love of wit and adventure. For what would America be without adventurism – we can plainly see it in Mr. Twain’s own two great heroes, just boys but such good-heartedness and full of adventure. And so that is how our America is today, full of adventure and growing strong, stronger, and bigger all the time. But whoever knew a teenager who wasn’t a slight bit naughty and found it required to bend the rules, now and again? So, we may get drunk in Mexico, in Cuba, in Panama time and again, but make no mistake, there is wealth there, and gold, and mining, and resources, sugar, sugar cane, rum, and other great pleasures of life. As America ventures abroad to explore, let us never forget what we discovered while exploring the great Mississippi as Mr. Twain has done on his steamboat&nbsp.