The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-07-18
Pitching Into Roosevelt.

4 N paign managers, anticipat-
ing the enthusiasm likely to
be created by Colonel Roosevelt in the
west, are cudgeling their brains to lay
out plan of campaign to counteract
it.
Their first thought was to throw rid
icule upon his military record, to ex-
plot him before the people as a fire.
eater and buffer, as n man with an
undeserved reputation for bravery; in
short, as a military fa<er The Chi
cago Record, an Independent paper,
says they put man upon the records
and he looked through them from be-
ginning to end, only to have to report
as follows: 81 have reread cable
grams, letters and reports from San
tiago, Siboney, Camp Wikoff and Tam
pa until l am tired, and, to tell the
truth, Teddy is too much for me.
There is no doubt he was the best ad-
vertised commander during the war;
and he did things and said things
which no other colonel, except he had
as good a pull with the administra-
tion as Teddy had, would have dared
to do or say. But the cold fact re-
mains that Roosevelt was a b ave fell
low and did great work. There is no
doubt that he is claiming much that
was done by other colonels and SOL
diers, but he was no buffer The one
thing which we have which will put
him in a bad light is his claim that
his regiment of the rough riders did
all the fighting at San Juan hill. The
reports and the dispatches from the
front during that time do not bear out
his claim"
Whether Teddy's men did all the
fighting at San Juan or only q part of
it, they at least did their whole duty;
| they set an example that will live in
our history, and that is the main thing.
| But there is another criticism against
| Roosevelt which the Democratic cam
paign managers intend to- circulate
they purpose to print fac SMILES of the
| Santiago round robin, the American
officers protest against Secretary AL
gers officious order to General Shafter
| to move his fever-stricken army fifteen
miles up hill to San Luis at the rate
| Of two miles a day, an order which
Roosevelt, in his impetuous way, is
| said to have denounced as murderous
because the men were too weak tC
obey It. The Democrats have found
out that Theodore Roosevelt had &
| good deal to do with getting that mis-
taken order revoked and the depleted
troops brought north TO Long Island
| where they could get back into {
healthy condition; and they seem t.
think that the republication of tn,
round robin, of which they say he /!
the author, will in some mysterious
way reflect upon his dGcility as a sol
dier and pillory him before the people
as a man who thought more of saw
of rufling General Alger's susceptible
feelings.
Maybe it will. Maybe Teddy
doesn't care If it does, since he carried
his point. Incidentally General Alge
has retired TO private life. So by al
-leans let us have the round robin a
a campaign issue. 1t was tried in NeN
York and it made Roosevelt governor
There are those who believe it will ye
contribute to his election as president
1t certainly will not interfere with hi
prospects for the vice presidency; fol
after all, the people like the kind @
men who don't stand on ceremon
when there is something of great i'm
portance to be done and done quickly
The situation in the offices of the vel
low New York daAes becomes nor
| aDDalling hourly