第85章

WhenIleftthePresidencyIfinishedsevenandahalfyearsofadministration，duringwhichnotoneshothadbeenfiredagainstaforeignfoe。Wewereatabsolutepeace，andtherewasnonationintheworldwithwhomawarcloudthreatened，nonationintheworldwhomwehadwronged，orfromwhomwehadanythingtofear。Thecruiseofthebattlefleetwasnottheleastofthecauseswhichensuredsopeacefulanoutlook。

Whenthefleetreturnedafteritssixteenmonths’voyagearoundtheworldIwentdowntoHamptonRoadstogreetit。ThedaywasWashington’sBirthday，February22，1907。Literallyontheminutethehomingbattlecraftcameintoview。OntheflagshipoftheAdmiralI

spoketotheofficersandenlistedmen，asfollows：

“AdmiralSperry，OfficersandMenoftheBattleFleet：

“Overayearhaspassedsinceyousteamedoutofthisharbor，andovertheworld’srim，andthismorningtheheartsofallwhosawyouthrilledwithprideasthehullsofthemightywarshipsliftedabovethehorizon。YouhavebeenintheNorthernandtheSouthernHemispheres；fourtimesyouhavecrossedtheline；youhavesteamedthroughallthegreatoceans；youhavetouchedthecoastofeverycontinent。Everyourgeneralcoursehasbeenwestward；

andnowyoucomebacktotheportfromwhichyousetsail。Thisisthefirstbattlefleetthathasevercircumnavigatedtheglobe。

Thosewhoperformthefeatagaincanbutfollowinyourfootsteps。

“ThelittletorpedoflotillawentwithyouaroundSouthAmerica，throughtheStraitsofMagellan，toourownPacificCoast。Thearmoredcruisersquadronmetyou，andleftyouagain，whenyouwerehalfwayroundtheworld。Youhavefalsifiedeverypredictionoftheprophetsoffailure。Inallyourlongcruisenotanaccidentworthyofmentionhashappenedtoasinglebattleship，noryettothecruisersortorpedoboats。Youleftthiscoastinahighstateofbattleefficiency，andyoureturnwithyourefficiencyincreased；betterpreparedthanwhenyouleft，notonlyinpersonnelbuteveninmaterial。Duringyourworldcruiseyouhavetakenyourregulargunnerypractice，andskilledthoughyouwerebeforewiththeguns，youhavegrownmoreskilfulstill；andthroughpracticeyouhaveimprovedinbattletactics，thoughherethereismoreroomforimprovementthaninyourgunnery。

Incidentally，IsupposeIneedhardlysaythatonemeasureofyourfitnessmustbeyourclearrecognitionoftheneedalwayssteadilytostrivetorenderyourselvesmorefit；ifyouevergrowtothinkthatyouarefitenough，youcanmakeupyourmindsthatfromthatmomentyouwillbegintogobackward。

“Asawar-machine，thefleetcomesbackinbettershapethanitwentout。Inaddition，you，theofficersandmenofthisformidablefightingforce，haveshownyourselvesthebestofallpossibleambassadorsandheraldsofpeace。Whereveryouhavelandedyouhaveborneyourselvessoastomakeusathomeproudofbeingyourcountrymen。Youhaveshownthatthebesttypeoffightingmanoftheseaknowshowtoappeartotheutmostpossibleadvantagewhenhisbusinessistobehavehimselfonshore，andtomakeagoodimpressioninaforeignland。Weareproudofalltheshipsandallthemeninthiswholefleet，andwewelcomeyouhometothecountrywhosegoodreputeamongnationshasbeenraisedbywhatyouhavedone。”

APPENDIXA

THETRUSTS，THEPEOPLE，ANDTHESQUAREDEAL

[WrittenwhenMr。Taft’sadministrationbroughtsuittodissolvethesteelcorporation，oneofthegroundsforthesuitbeingtheacquisitionbytheCorporationoftheTennesseeCoalandIronCompany；

thisactionwastaken，withmyacquiescence，whileIwasPresident，andwhileMr。Taftwasamemberofmycabinet；atthetimeheneverprotestedagainst，andasfarasIknewapprovedofmyactioninthiscase，asintheHarvesterTrustcase，andallsimilarcases。]

ThesuitagainsttheSteelTrustbytheGovernmenthasbroughtvividlybeforeourpeopletheneedofreducingtoorderourchaoticGovernmentpolicyasregardsbusiness。AsPresident，inMessagestoCongressI

repeatedlycalledtheattentionofthatbodyandofthepublictotheinadequacyoftheAnti-TrustLawbyitselftomeetbusinessconditionsandsecurejusticetothepeople，andtothefurtherfactthatitmight，ifleftunsupplementedbyadditionallegislation，workmischief，withnocompensatingadvantage；andIurgedasstronglyasI

knewhowthatthepolicyfollowedwithrelationtorailwaysinconnectionwiththeInter-StateCommerceLawshouldbefollowedbytheNationalGovernmentasregardsallgreatbusinessconcerns；andthereforethat，asafirststep，thepowersoftheBureauofCorporationsshouldbegreatlyenlarged，orelsethatthereshouldbecreatedaGovernmentalboardorcommission，withpowerssomewhatsimilartothos