The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1901-11-22
About President Roosevelt.
tBy Oul Regular Corr spondeni.


Washington, Nov. 20-The num-
ber Of Senators and representatives
in Washington is increasing daily.
They all call at the White House and
with most of them Mr.. Roosevelt
discusses some phase Of his forth
coming message. By comparison
of noteG i. is, therefore, becoming
reasonably easy to predict the Presi-
dents position on many of the more
| important subjects He has said
thap me is in favor Of reciprocity, bot
does not consiaer that it you'd be
proper for him to express y aesire to
see any particular reciprocal treaty
ratified or negotiated. He has stated
that he viii! urge that immediate
provision be made for a Pacific c"ble
TO the Philippines and touching at
! Hawaii and Guam, but that as to The
method, whether it be cOpstruc, ed
by the Government or private co.,
Germ authorized to lay it, he Will
make no recommendation He has
expressed wish to see an 1sthminn
Canal constructed ~ soon as possible
aud hopes to see Congress +" ke al
the necessary steps without delay
Mr. Roosevelt realizes that all the
responsibilities Of his high office are
heavy and knows their extent He
believes his GWn share to be quite
sufficient and he has no intention Of
assuming portion of those Whi"h
properly pertain to Congress, or OF
proffrring advice which might be re-
iected His intention is to clearly
and as br;e!y as possible, outline the
natioral situation, designating any
evils which he believes should bq
ertrectcd and leaving it to Congress
II :aka such action as it considers
the situation warrants. In the per
Torrance of his own duties, while he
has received with consideration the
advice of everyone whom he believed
had the best interests Of the admin
istration at heart, he has acted and
will continue to act with the Creates
independence, and in his relations
with Congress he will respect its in
Dependence to the same extent that
he expects Congress to respect his
The spheres of the Executive and
the legislative branches of the gov
ernment are separate and distinct"
he said recently and that will be the
keynote of his administration.
The President appears to have re-
linquished none of his admiration for
Civil Service reform. He has called
FOR designations from two prominent
office-h"lders because Of their viola.
tion of Civil Service Rules. He mas
stated positively and frequently that
he will appoint no men to Office whom
he does not consider in every wa!
fitted for the position. He has ap-
pointed well-known and earnest re
form advocate to the Civil Service
Commission, and during the past
week, he has announced that In tn,
Army and Navy and Gin our depend.
encies" merit aioDp Will secure pro
motion. Apropos OF the Army pro-
motions, he has caused to be given
out at the War Department an Off
cial declaration which states that
officers who send their friends to the
President to present their claims for
promotion will not improve their
chances, but that "on the contrary,
the effect will probably be directly
opposite to that WHICH the candidate
hopes for" and that "lt Is only fair
to the. administration that not only |
Army officers; but all other classes
of public office holders should rely
upon their own merits and not upon
the further use Of political in influence"
1t Ia even rumored that it is the in
tention of the President to apply the |
requirements of the Civil Service |
Commission to all that class OF en-