Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1901-09-27
WASHINGTON LETTER.
(From our Regular CORRESPONDENT.

Washington. Sept. 23.-The news
that President Roosevelt will retain
the present Cabinet intact ci,me as
something of q surprise to the country
| in general. Perhaps no change which
he could have made would have sur
prised the public as much as this I'M
looked-fOr conservatism. But it is an
old story, as regards Roosevelt. that
the only thing you can really expect of
him is the unexpected.
1t is no secret that Platt and Hanna
were doing considerable squirming for
a few days after they realized that the
man whom they had shelved as Vice
President was really headed for the
White Honse They did not like it.
They wers afraid of him, and they are
still, but in modified way They
J realize that Roosevelt is going to 90
/ what he Gays he will, and they have
that much to build on, but whether he
will do it in the way in which they
want him to is another question.
When he says he is going head first
through plate glass window the
window had better be insured.
and some of the enterprises in which
these two sapient gentlemen are en-.
gagged are of The nature of conserva
tory. They are raising infant indus
tries under glass, and that sort of thing,
1t would not be nice if the Rough Rid.
err should put his boot through the
shelter of the shipping subsidies. Hanna
says he will not, but maybe the wish is
father to the thought. tits known that
Roosevelt is very much interested in
the upbuiding OF the merchant marine,
and particularly that of the Navy. He
wishes to unite the countries of the
! two Americas by commercial linkr.
The question is whether he can Join
the two wings of his own party so that
they will flap in unison aud take him
where he wants to go. President Nc
Kinley never exactly said anything in
favor of subsidies, but then, he never
said anything against them. Roose-
welt never was neutral in bis life. He
reminds one of remark of one of the
characters in Tourgee's once famous
novel. IA Fools Errand." "Old men
generally get the credit for all the con-
servatism in the world, but it is a mis-
take. A young man backs just as hard
as he pulls. If be Is opposed to thing
he fights it tooth and nail'' Roose-
welt is only forty two, and that is the
kind of a conservative he will be when
he is one at all.
The very exuberance of the utterances
of various Republican Senators as to
the confidence they have in Roosevelt,
since his decision to retain the men,
bers of the present Cabinet, is little |
suspicious. 1t indicates that they
have been scared and now are re assur-
ed.
Anotherthing which should not be '
overlooked is that ROOsevelt's princi-
pal friends and supporters have not yet |
come On the scene. 1t is thought that |
when Senator Lodge comes back from
Europe there may be change in the
existing situation.
There is no doubt that Roosevelt will |
be strenuous in some direction. 1t is I
said that he will favor not only a large |
navy but standing army of strength |
equal to thatsprovided under the reor-
ganizatiOn act of last winter Wheth- |
er the army can be enlarged indefinite
ly without interfering with the wei
fare of the people as whole is one of
the questions not yet settled. We are
not ready for any such ideals of mill
tary service as those which prevail in
Europe, and it is.doubtful if We really
want to be. Another place in which
uhO1 2 10 llhCly W OO pOLuC SAdhlDS Up
is the secret service. President RoOse-
welt has been collecting testimony
about the performances of the secret
that he regards them with contempt,
as lot of incompetents, and will make
some radical changes in that branch of
the government very soon. In this
connection there is little story about
TncJoh Elunf tho dat [
which is interesting Flynt. as most
people know, is college bred man who
has been knocking about in the disguise
of hobo for the last ten Or fifteen
years, gathering Information about
tramp and criminal classes, and is pos
sible the best authority in the country
on this subject. He published an ar
ticle sometime ago which was a terri
BILE arriagnInent of the New York de-
tectiye force and the New York people
were mad. They said they would show
him that be could not talk in that way
about the police of great city. For
two days they hunted for him. At the
end of that time he stroled into the
Front Office" talked with the chief
about an irrelevant matter. and asked
incidentally. 'Have they caught that
man Flynt yet2r He was RECALLED with
opinions of himself and
strolled out again In state of inward
They have not caught
him yet. The fact is that the detec-
tive and the secret service men are not
as sharp as the criminal, and until they
men who are resourceful.
shrewd and incorruptible make up
these forces, the criminal will have ,
about as good time as be does now. :
TWAS stated by some correspondents t
that Roosevelt had positively said that S
re would not be candidate for the 7
Presidency in 1904 Hehas denied this j
interview point blank, but be admits y
hat what be really said was something .
ike this: That while he was Vice. q
President he had considered such a | t
al begun to work for it.
)ut since the t1ag C event which made o
lin President &c ,uld not make any II
personal canvass for the nomination.
Anybody can SEE that. But it is .
bought that he would not refuse to T
axe the candidacy if it should hap. s
zen to be offered to him, and that is as r,
ar as it is proper for him to go at this p
arly stage of affairs.
An interesting statement which Presi-
ent Roosevelt made on Saturday morn
ng to Senator Pritchard, of n. c., Rep
esentative Kluttz, of the same state. :
nd Representative Gibson, of Tenn, e
vas this: Il am going to be President :
f the United States, and not of any
ection. | don't care that with snap
f his fngers) for sections or sectional
mes" He also said something of the
anne sort to Senator Money, of Missis-
ippi. and Mr.. Livingston, of Ga,
dding that he was half southern by
lood and that having lived in the West
e hoped be might represent all Sec
inuc |