Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/171

THEODORE ROOSEVELT 135 velt later named a senator from the South as impli cated in transactions of a similar kind. And he then more than intimated that members of the Secret Service were needed to watch the conduct of our legislators at Washington. In consequence of his laws which impeded and his words which stung a great many "undesirable citizens," a sea of abuse now arose against him as violent as that which once assailed Washington and Lincoln. Some one has collected the vocabulary of this language; and to read it is sufficient proof that Mr. Roosevelt is a great man; no other kind of man could arouse such prolonged vilification. From May 13 to May 15, 1908, the conference of Governors he had called was in session at Wash ington, and was addressed by him on the subject of State and Federal rights. At this gathering, the first of its kind ever held, besides governors or representatives from virtually all States of the Union, the foremost men in politics and affairs spoke or listened, and woman, never before included in State counsels, was represented by Sarah Platt Decker, President of the General Federation of Women s Clubs. Andrew Carnegie addressed the conference on the subject of iron and coal in relation to their exhaustion; Elihu Root dwelt upon the importance of the States directing their powers to preserving their natural resources ; James J. Hill spoke about the wasteful use of the