Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/125

 THEODORE ROOSEVELT 93 man being useful to his country and harmful to themselves, and so they dismissed him with the term Silk Stocking. But they reckoned without the American people, who, when it comes to the point, are fond of honesty. The young reformer had a strong equipment. He had made himself physically vigorous. His determination was im placable. He had studied government with all the earnestness of his character. He had visited for eign places and returned possessing a knowledge of other countries, and hence, through power to make practical comparisons, the key to a proper understanding of his own. And to this very rich equipment he added the true spirit of democracy, recognizing merit wherever he met it. Such a man was Theodore Roosevelt when he went to Albany at the age of twenty-three, the youngest assembly man in New York. To the surprise and distaste of the purse politicians he was twice re-elected to the legislature, serving the terms of 1882, 1883, and 1884, and coming to be the leader of the minority. One of the chief measures for cleanliness in which he played a leading part was abolishing the fees in the office of the register and county clerk. Through the investigation which he then originated, it came to light that the county clerk took $82,000 a year in fees, and that the sheriff pocketed about $100,000. These traditional thefts were ended