The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-07-05
ROAD TO THE
WHITE HOUSE.
Presidential Candidates Have
Begun to Learn
That It Lies Through she
Mississippi Valley
ROOSEVELT'S TOU R,
And the Ambition of the San
Juan Hero,
BreeziIy Discussed by John J.
ingalls,.
ROOsEVELT'S TOUR,
n. J. ingalls, sn N. Y. Journal.1

II. J. ingalls, Gn N. 2. Journal
Political diagnosis is not an exact
science, nor are its deductions always
infalnble. The doctors sometimes err,
but to the professional eye Roosevelt
exhibits marked presidential symp-
toms.
His pulse, temperature and respira-
ton. on his recent western tour, were
slightly above normal.
His progress from New York to Las
Vegas was triumphal and spectacular.
The itinerary was distinctly theatrical
His managers arranged the entrances
and exits opportunity. The rear plat
form was utilized. The advance agent
secured effective press notices. The
change of costume in Paul MOrtOns
private car, as the end OF the journey
drew near, from the conventional carp OF
Albany to the sOuch hat, cavalry boots,
martial gauntlets and yellow duck I'M
form Of the Rough Riders at Santiago
was dramatic.
1t reminded one somehow Of the cock
ed hat and gray overcoat Of the con-
querOr of MarengO, whom COnkling
was wont to describe as the great trag-
edian of the nineteenth century. Wheth-
er Grant ever carried his Appomattox
clothes in a dress suit case to wear at
Grand Army reunions, his biographer
does not record.
Presidential candidates have begun to
learn that the road to the White House
runs through the Mississippi valley.
The approval of the prairies is indispen-
sable to success. The west holds the
purse, the sword and the sceptre. The
salt water despOts have had their day.
The west supplies the votes, and wants
to know for whom they are to be cast.
Hence, for the candidate, the longest
way round is the shortest way home.
If ROOsevelt's purpose was to sound
public opinion, the result must have
been gratifying. He found warm and
cordial, almost an enthusiastic, well
come. He is popular. Notwithstanding
his metropolitan ancestry, his wealth,
his culture. there is a breezy strain of
the frontiersman about him and an alb
sence Of starch and scallOps and frills
that endears him to the average cOnstl-
tuency.
Then his fmpulsiveness, his lack Of
judgment, his want Of discretion and
discernment are not without their
charm. Especially to the young, who
detest cold, cautious and calculating
conservatism.
The governor has learned something
the past few years. His instincts ehaYe
always been right, but he has nat till
recently cOmprehended the relations Of
universe. His sense Of personal. pro-
portion has been defective. He has
been so conscious of his own rect'tude
that he has been unable to cOEcelVe
that any one could differ frOm1 him
without turpitude. The most malign-
ant foe to temperance is the sentEmen-
tai prOhibitonist, and the worst epeny
of reform in politics is the refO2mer-
Charles Sumner was type Of the
species that will make no terms with
evil except immediate and uncondttiOn-
al surrender. Unless they can leach
the goal at once, they refuse to take
a step in the right direction, and so
Obstruct all progress. They deny the
right of evil to exist, and forget. that
popular self-government is the s1pre-
macy Of the average and not o. the
best. They think the Kingdoln Of
Heaven suffers violence, and thaE the
violent take it by force. They forget
that human society is compounded of
good and bad, and that successful poll
tics is the science of compromise
Roosevelt had some of these charac-
teriStics, but ambition or years have
made him tolerant. He drives web now
in harness. He used to be so peFpen-
dicular he was never quite sure he was
straight unless he was leaning over
backward The genuine refOrmer be-
lieVes the true way to belong to a party
is to revile its leaders, denOunce its
| methods and policies, and give aid and
comfort to its enemies.
The people of the west have never
learned the art of belonging to a party
/ a little. They are Republicans or Dem
{ OcratS or ROpulists a great deal and all
the time. They are partisans, but not
bigOtS. Since the colonel has Parted
company with Seth Low, Parkhurst and
the other biologists, and gone in with
/ Plat he is better liked out this way
/ Independence and self-associatioD are
/ admirable, but majorities rule, and the
[ ballot box decides whether truth is to be
/ on the scaffoId or on the throne Roose-
/ welt has apparently decided to &C with
/ the majority hereafter
In his Kansas speeches he was as
eulOgistic as the most inVeterate boom
/ er. The average Kansas audience is
/ always critical, and sometimes as I'M
certain, coy and hard to please as wo-
1 man in our hours of ease, but it is al
/ ways ready for a Irritation. Flattery
I and anDealS TO Self-lOVe never fall on
/ deaf ears, and Roosevelt played Lothario
! with high art. He praised everything
/ and everybody and his journey to and
fro in the state was an uninterrupted
\ series of ovations.
1 Considering the size of the armies.
I the number of casualties and the dura-
/ ton Of the campaign, the results Of the
! Spanish-American war were the most
] incredible in history. It changed the
! geography of the world in sixty days.
/ COntrasted with Gettysburg and the
march to the sea. the operations at San
tiagO seem trivial and insignificant.
( More men were killed and wounded in
/ single battle in the civil war than were
/ actively engaged in our army and navy
/ combined But when freedom recounts
! the sacrifices of her sons she does not
| recall their rank and station. nor the
! field on which they fell That they
gave their blood for the flag is enough.
So FL Caney and Siboney and San Juan
/ will be remembered as long as Bunker
| Hill and Marathon.
But though the harvest Of glory is so
! abundant, the crop of heroes is small
| 1t has been intimated that the design
| originally was to have no heroes at an
in order to avoid political complications
in 1900.
However this may be, it is singular
! that the only man who came out of the
/ Cuban campaign with any halo in pop
ular estimation, any Of the fame that
attends military proWess, was Roose-
Welt, and his distinction was acquired
IN hat Ia hat hn6