The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-03-25
POLITICS AND POLITICAL DUTY
Governor Roosevelt Gives Some Per-
tIdcnt Suggestions on Roth,

tidcnt Suggestions on Both.
From speech delivered March 10:
But / want to speak about the govern
ment OF ourselves. Each man here Is q
factor In the government. He has GER
tain responsibilities which he must full
I'll. Some OF our people speak OF the
politicians as though they were q
class apart. as II the average American
could wash his hands OF them and their
acts whenever 1t seemed we'll TO him to
do So Men in public life ore what the
men In private life make them. We
must in the long run represent what is
best and what Is worst in you. You
complain Of bad city government. 1t Is
ultimately the fault of the people them
selves II 1t Is bad. No American can
shake off the burden. The public men
must In the long run respond approx
mately to the effective desires OF the
people, to whom they so ultimately for
power.
some young men want to rise In pub
lie life at bound, passing oil the druid
gerry and apprenticeship. Some want to
be brigadier general at the start. Great
or good. 1t seems to me. Is done by the
men who take subordinate posts. and in
them do their work honestly and well.
sit tonight with representatives OF
both houses OF the legislature You
should understand that In nil matters of
constructive work the governor is help
less unless he Is backed by such men
as represent those two branches here
Tonight. know there Is q belief that
the governor Is both houses OF the leg
islature. and can pass any law that he
wants 10. That isn't true.
In no way cap You bring about de-
cency in your government so quickly as
by backing up the men who represent
Tour interests, rewarding those who are
faithful and Furnishing those who fail In
their duty. Besides these there Is an
other class-the philosophical citizen
who. without holding office, give OF their
time to aid the servants Of the public. /
cannot express the obligation l am un-
You have one here to-niGht-your next
president John Proctor Clarke.
Now to the voters. II you let the pro-
fessionai politicians do all the work
they Will take all the reward, and they
ought to. You can't govern yourselves
by sitting in your studies and thinking
how good You are. You've got TO fight
all you know how. and you'll find q lot
OF able men willing to fight You. Some
times one of these people. who feel that
they should do something to raise the
country's political standard. goes to n
primary and finds Il raft OF men who
have been TO many primaries. He dis
covers that he counts for nothing. Then,
IL he is OF the type of men unfit for
self-government he says politics Is low
and goes home. If he is worth his salt
he goes again, loses. goes again. may
be wins. and finally finds that he
counts, and that he Is doing his plain
duty as an American citizen. He can't
be proud OF doing it, but he ought to
be ashamed II he doesn't. All OF our
problems finally resolve themselves in
to getting honest government. Our
duty is to see that the DecaloSue and
Golden Rule prevail In. the government.
You want 10 hitch your wagon to q
star, but always remember your limi-
tations. IN our government You can
only worIe successfully In conjunction
with your fellows. Don't let practical
politics mean foul politics.