Evening star., 1898-08-06

AASii'A'A Niaiii-S ulOil tIle CeCietdly VI
War.
But Alger. possibly stung to strange and
inexcusable lengths, thought he saw an op-
portunity to score, with the public and so
ne used a private letter for public pur-
pose in particularly barefaced way. Be
tween Rooseveifs Incorporate zeal for
his men and Alser' s'lcold- -blooded use of a
private letter fefla gallery play. the Ameri
can people will mot hesitate to choose 1t
was a bad mistake for the Secretary.
He WHs Not GenerOus.
From the BROOKLYN Eagle.
Incidentally, the Secretary of War has
also seen fit toHrebuke the leader of the
Hough RIDERS fog saying that his followers
are not only as good as the regulars bU.
three times as rrcodn as any of the state
troops. In behalf Off Col Roosevelt, it is
to be said that the he tier in which he made
thls- declaration was rot-inteRded for gen.
eral circulation. 1t was written to the man
who has rebuked hfrh' BY its publca tfon
its author will undoubtedly be surprised
but he is man enough, to accept the couse-.
ql'ences Witnout- a mQrmur. The slur upon
tEe state troops, W iIl not improperly be5re-
sented, and Roosevelt will live long enough
10 ,ss regret it Af s the sa me- time, Secretary
manifestly intended only for his own pc
rGsal. He was other than generous.
Confidential Com u, unicafion
From the New York Times.
!Cclonel RCQSeNeit mad written to General
Alger a letter which was evidently and on
the face. of. it not official, but personal 1t
showed a just pride in the gallant regiment
which Colonel Roosevelt commands and
the formation OF which is so largely due to
him.. They are las good as any regulars -
he enthusias tically says, and three times
as good as any state troops" He explains
that. one advantage th9y have over the
state troops is that the latter are armed
with archaic weapons"
On the face is I
communication. To treat it as official and
to publish it, together with the cabled an
sWer to it, after eleven days. when the an
swer was public rebuke was as gross a
violation of the decencies of life as can be
imagined. On the face of it, it is an act
| impossible to gentleman But the expla-
nation Is not on the face of 1t. since it was
written its author has been talked of as the
Iepubhcan candidate for governor of New
York. and it is just about the level of the
Algerine imagination to suppose that the
| publication of it would injura the authors
prospects. Moreover, it gave the Secretarv
chance to beslaver with equal and there
fore worthless praise all the men in mi
form who had been within sight or hearing
OF the operations at Santiago.
ROoseveIt's Grave Error,
From the New York Journal.
1t is most unfortunate that Colonel rbao
dore Roosevelts irresistible seIf-assertion
and egotism should have broken forth inst
il lilS glorious moment IN the conduct Of
the war to obscure his really admira Bile SER
vices in the field. -
Mr.. Roosevelt has fought well-more than
that he has fought brilliantly and with an
entlre lndiHerence to personal danger which
Is characteristic of him. He led a fine lot
of men who are not trained soldiers in the
disciplinary sense of the word but who
have shown themselves gallant to the point
OF desperation.
Nothing finer than the charge of the
Rough Riders at Eel Caney, headed by Tbeo
dore Roosevelt is yet to be recorded of the
work of American soldiers in Cuba.
how deDiorable 1t Is, then, that Mr.
Roosevelts irrepressible spirit of bragga
docio and egotism his inbred incapacity to
recognize merit in his rivals, should now
put the Rough Riders, through the action
OF their colonel, in the position of a mill
tary command which brags of its own
achievements and ignores the admirable ac-
complishments of its associated companions
| in armsi
The Secretary of, War rot go one
step too far whsn1he telegraphed to Mr.
Roosevelt this sttnging rebuke: '.I suggest
that unless you Nant ITO. spoil the effect and
glory of your victorysyou make no inyidi-
Gus COMPARISONS The Rough Riders are
no better than otherEEolunteers"
.--lIl-
Both Lack Tact and Taste.
| From the Brooklyn Citizen
Teddy Rooseveltss letter to Secretary
of War Alger iniWhich he asserts that the
''tnrea
| times as good as. any,state troops" shows
| shocking lack, of tact for man who is
| looking for Platt,s approval as candidate te
| for governor. in Wewssf the question as to
| the expediency Of renominating Black in
| face of his force bill.
Mr. Croker facstious1y remarked recently
"a man must beileither killed or wounded
to have any chance, before the people this
| fall" But, then, Mr.. Croker didn't mean a
man who had either killed or wounded him
| self; and Teddy has probably done both
| through that letter: for, the National
| Guard Is power in the matter of ballots
| however little he may think of It as a
| stopper of bullets.
| Indeed, 1t is fortunate for Secretary AL
ger that he. too, is not coming before the
people for Endorsement for some office this
| fall; for, he has been as indiscreet as
| Teddy" and seems to have gone into a
rivalry with him to show which could ex-
| hibit the worse taste. s.The Rough Riders
are no better than other volunteers" he
says, alluding, probably, to the fact that
| there would have been nothing left Of
.sTeddy's" regiment but for the sudden aid
rendered it by the coiored men of the regu-
/ lars at San Juan.
mo better than other volunteers" is an
ambiguous phrase, and seems to reflect
upon volunteers and Rough Riders alike;
u