Jacob A. Riis (1849–1914). Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen. 1904.
Page 241
| “The man,” I cried out, “who says that is either a fool or a scoundrel. Which of the two are you?” |
| I don’t believe he heard. His kind rarely do. They never by any chance get any other side of a subject than their own, for they never can shake themselves off for a moment. He stood pointing at me still: |
| “Does not Holy Writ say, ‘Thou shalt not kill?”’ he went on. |
| “Yes! and on the same page does it not say that ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,’ even if he is the President of the United States?” |
| The audience by this time was upon its feet, yelling its delight. It was what it wanted. The crank sat down. In the front row a red-faced Irishman jumped up and down like a jack-in-the-box, wildly excited. |
| “You let him alone,” he shouted to the people, shaking his hat at them; “let Professor Riis alone. He can take care of himself. Teddy Roosevelt is the greatest man in the country”; and, turning half toward me, he shot up a fist like a ham and, grabbing mine, yelled out, “I druv him oncet!” |