The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-09-22
GOVERNOR RoosEvELr's LETTER.
Baltimore Herald.


Apparently, the task of responding to Mr..
Bryan's favorite paramount issue" argument
has been left to Governor Roosevelt and the
Governor is doing his work well. Already, in
his Western speeches, he had splintered to
fragments the paramount plank in the Kan
sas City platform. Now in his letter accepting
the Vice-Presidential nomination he has dis
posed OF the fragments. No citizen who is at
once intelligent and unprejudiced can read it
without being profoundly impressed with the
suspicion that "militarism" and imperialism
are either the Pigments of an excited magma
ton or mere demagogic slogans gotten up for
campaign purposes.
Governor Roosevelt by no means ignores the
actual and vital issue of the campaign--that of
maintaining the nations credit aud the coun-
try's prosperity by the perpetuation of asound-
money system. The first part of his letter is
devoted to that subject, and it is plain that he
is fully sensible of the reaction and disorder,
the national bad faith, the loss of prestige and
repute in foreign countries and the domestic
disasters which would follow the adoption OF
the reckless money system of which Mr.. Bryan
is the premier champion and high priest.
1.-THE policy of the free coinage of silver at
ratio of l6 to l." says he, lis policy fraught
with destruction to every home in the land it
means untold misery to the head of every
household, and, above all, to the women and
children of every home" And again IF
we are to prosper, the currency of this country
must be based upon the gold dollar worth one
rency means loss and disaster to the business
man. y The one absolute need of our
industrial system is sound money"
Upon the subject of trusts Governor Roose-
velts views are well known He repeats and
emphasizes in his letter what he has SO often
said before-that publicity as to capitalikafieA,-
profits and other matters of Importance to the
people is the one apparent remedy for the cor
porate evils from which the people are now
suffering "The mere fact of this publicity
says be- would in itself remedy certain evils,
and as to others, it would in some cases point
out the remedies and would at least enable us
to tell whether or not certain proposed reme-
dies would be useful
The most distinctive feature of Governor
Roosevelt's letter, however, is that part of tire
lating to the unreasoning cry of imperialism"
which has been raised against President Nc
Kinley's administration. The sophistry of the
paramount issue" is exposed to public view
by wealth of historic reference. Governor
Roosevelt shows quite conclusively that
expansion was the American inspiration
even before the Republic had been securely.
founded. He points out that when the Revo-
lutionary War began the Allegheny Mountains
formed the colonial boundary, but that even
while the war was in progress and before in
dependence had been acknowledged, the
pioneer colonists conquered from white and
savage foes what was known as the Illinois
country, comprising Kentucky, Tennessee and
the Northwest. Then came 1.-THE greatest sim
gle stride in expansion that we ever took
the purchase of the Louisiana territory. a pur-
chase that was accomplished by Jefferson in
spite of the fact that 1.-The great majority of
the inhabitants, white and colored alike, were
bitterly opposed to the transfer"
The parallel fact is pointed out that IAN
armed force of United States soldiers had to be
hastily sent into the territory to prevent insur-
rection, President Jefferson sending those
troops to Louisiana for exactly the same rea-
sons and with exactly the same purpose that
President Mckinley has sent troops TO the
Philippines" 1.-The parallel" says Governor
Roosevelt, between what Jefferson did with
Louisiana and what is now being done in the
Philippines is exact"
This is proposition which will hardly be
disputed by those who have studied the his
tory of the Louisiana purchase. Though JEFF
ferson was the author of the theory of the
consent of the governed, he was a practical
man of affairs and patriot who would not
permit mere sentiment to stand in the way
of his country's advancement.
After Louisiana, the Governor reviews in
chronological order the acquisition of Florida,
Texas, the Pacific Slope, Alaska and Hawaii,
thus demonstrating the accuracy of his propo-
sition that ever since Daniel Boone began to
blaze the path of civilization through the wilds
Vi henIucky tne Onlteu O.a'es nas oeen COh-
stantly moved by the spirit of territorial en-
largement.
Governor Roosevelt unlike some of our pub
lie men, is not a seeker after epigrams. His
rhetoric is argumentative, not figurative. 1t
is not the aphorism-it is the 'facts upon
which he bases his appeal to popular iudg-
ment but in bis conclusion be uses sentence
which for its pithiness deserves to be embalmed
in public memory. properly speaking" he
declares, 1.-THE question is not now whether we
shall expand-for we have already expanded
bnt whether we shall contract That. indeed.
ritory by the right of purchase, just as Louisi
ana became ours by purchase. Shall we hold
and develop the islands as we did louisiana
or shall we abandon them? Shall we reverse
the policy pursued since the founding of our
Government? Shall we now begin to contract