Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1900-08-30
Ro0sEvELT's FOLLY.

er, IN explanation Of bis ST. Pau
speech. We have not hithert
commented on the extravagant Ian
gnage Of that speech. There il
certain discount which il IS gene,
ally made on the perfervid and i'm
petuons utterances Of the perenni
ally youthful Governor or Ne,
York, that il didn't really seen
worth while TO make mnch Of th
partlcniar instance furnished b
the hrst explosion Of his enthusiasm
In tins campaign. Everybody knev
that no sane man could have mean
TO apply TO half the people of th,
United States, the description
which. according to the report, Mr.
Roosevelt appeared to apply to al
Democrats. Mr.. Roosevelt 10 sr
extremist and hothead, but he il
neither madman nor fool and
1t therefore seemed plain enough
that be either did not say just What
ne was reported to have said or did
not mean to say what he did say.
But Mr.. Roosevelt has now had
several weeks to reflect upon his
actual words, upon the report OF
them, and upon the impression
which that report has produced. II
10 certainly a pity that, after all
this opportunity to make a state.
ment which should commend itself
to people of soberness and judg-
ment (if he made any statement at
sii), ne should have found nothing
better to say than what ia contain
ed in his letter to Gen Palmer, pub
iished this morning. He says now
that he did declare ut st. Paul that
''they stand for lawlessness and
disorder, for dishonesty and dis.
honor, for license and disaster at
home and cowardly shrinking from
duty abroad" but that the context
showed that by "they" he meant
''the makers and sponsors OF the
Kansas City platform, aud adds /:
lyon will see that here | most ex.
plicitly draw the line between the
men who support and ask support
for the Kansas City platform and all
other citizens, whether Democrats or
Republicans, feel that as a matter
OF fact. the greatest possible credit 10
due to men like you, my dear sir,
and to the other gold Democrats,
who, four years ago, stood aud now
stand for national honor" And
he declares that all democrats
who abhor baseness and cowardice
must necessarily see
that every principle of courage, of
patriotism and of national self-re-
spect demands that they repudiate
the action Of the Populistic Democ-
racy by which they have been at
this moment betrayed.
Thus the line between towards
and brave men, between patriots
and men false TO their country, is
drawn by Mr.. Roosevelt 80 as to
separate those who Support and
ask support for the Kansas City
platform" on the one hand from
''all other citizens" on the other.
1t 10 hardly to be supposed that the
Governor meant to draw a distinct
ion between those who will vote for
Bryan and those who "support the
Kansas City platform" certainly
he had ample opportunity to make
the distinction in his long letter
and failed to do so. Accordingly,
Mr.. Roosevelt, candidate for Vice.
President of the United States,
stigmatizes rs lovers of cowardice
and national degradation all those
who vote the ticket opposed to his
in his coming national election.
That the number of people who are
going to do this is pretty near half
the population of the country, he
cannot help knowing; but there 10
another aspect of the matter which
IL. in the case of q man who has
had his opportunities of culture,
nothing less than disgraceful.
The men who agree with the
Kansas City platform in all that
part of it which Roosevelt thinks
all persons who "abhor baseness
and cowardics" must "necessarily"
repudiate include some of the most
impressive figures that the public
life Of this country contains. Fore
most Of all, Carl Schurz, o man
who entered the struggle for liber-
ty in his German home who, when
q mere youth, did q deed of real
heroism which won the praisa NJ