The facts did not merely warrant the action I took--they rendered such action imperative unless I was to prove false to my sworn duty.

The making of this cut in a bank composed of light alluvial soil above a depression such as this without controlling devices was criminal negligence.

Nature has through many centuries protected this great depression from overflow, but the restless river, constantly shifting, has annually threatened to break through the banks.

The point to be especially emphasized is that prompt action must be taken, if any; otherwise the conditions may become so extreme as to be impracticable of remedy.

The results have been highly alarming, as it appears that if the water is not checked it will cut a very deep channel which, progressing upstream in a series of cataracts, will result in conditions such that the water can not be diverted…

The work of the Reclamation Service in developing the larger opportunities of the western half of our country for irrigation is more important than almost any other movement.

Under no circumstances will I consent to keep in the service bodies of men whom the circumstances show to be a menace to the country.

I ordered the discharge of nearly all the members of Companies B, C, and D of the Twenty-fifth Infantry by name, in the exercise of my constitutional power and in pursuance of what, after full consideration, I found to be my constitutional…

I have condemned in unstinted terms the crime of lynching perpetrated by white men, and I should take instant advantage of any opportunity whereby I could bring to justice a mob of lynchers.

I challenge as a right, the support of every citizen of this country, whatever his color, provided only he has in him the spirit of genuine and farsighted patriotism.

Every farsighted friend of the colored race in its efforts to strive onward and upward, should teach first, as the most important lesson, alike to the white man and the black, the duty of treating the individual man strictly on his worth…

In precisely the same spirit I have now acted with reference to these colored men who have been guilty of a black and dastardly crime.

It is hereby ordered that the following-described lands in New Mexico, namely: T. 16 N., R. 1 E., Jemez meridian, excepting any tract or tracts the title to which has passed out of the United States Government or to which valid legal…

If the colored men elect to stand by criminals of their own race because they are of their own race, they assuredly lay up for themselves the most dreadful day of reckoning.

People have spoken as if this discharge from the service was a punishment. I deny emphatically that such is the case, because as punishment it is utterly inadequate.

Precisely the same action would have been taken had the troops been white--indeed, the discharge would probably have been made in more summary fashion.

But I wish it distinctly understood that the fact of the birthplace of either officer is one which I absolutely refuse to consider.

I have striven to break up peonage; I have upheld the hands of those who, like Judge Jones and Judge Speer, have warred against this peonage.