The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-11-22
SIZING HIM UP.

President Roosevelt, though yet in has
early manhood, has had an experience
in the administration Of public affairs
OF far greater variety than any puDll-
man of his generation. AS member
Of the LEGISLATURE of the State or New
York. as a member Of the Civil Service
Commissi n. as member ana president
of the Police Board of the city of New
York. as Governor of the State, he has
faced the most serious problems OF our
politIcal evolution, and he is siugularly
well grounded in the knowledge Of the
workings of political machinery.
His supervision Of the police force OF
the city, during the years 80 end SO
gave him close insight into the eVlls
of our democratic system of rule, al
though it never impaired his faith IN
self-rule A study OF his essays, OF
which there are many, enables US to
size up the man who is now the Ma
tionai Executive, in spite of the oppo-
sition of the politicians. His own &C
count of the difficulties he encountered
in the discharge of his Office as Police
Commissioner is most instructive ana
even fascinating. He abandons the
timid discretion Of the politician who
Is afraid to talk out in meeting" lest
il hurt the party or his own political
future No public man has ever talked
with such childlike simplicity of the
true inwardness of things. He blurts
out the most disagreeable remarks
about his own party when ne believes
it is in the wrong.
Tammany was overthrow In '94 by
Reform government. Under this gov
eminent he became Police Commission
er. He was himself n Republican. but
his own party demanded at once that
he should use his power to help the
party. The Independents insisted that
he should discharge the duties OF ms
office without any reference to party
He says, I'm theory they were quite
right, and I cordially sympathized with
them, but it was out Of the question to
put those theories into complete effect
Tammany opposed him in every way,
but" he says, 1.-The Republican ma
chine asked the Board to do many
things which they could not do. because
a surrender in certain vital points
meant the abandonment of the effort
to obtain good administration" When
the Republicans realized his independ-
ence, they enacted laws In the Legisla-
ture which hampered him. He bold
" says OF one law passed to tie him
up. "a more foolish or vicious law was
never enacted by any legislature He
does not hesitate to berate his own
party. He threw party allegiance ID
the winds. He was determined TO
create a good police force in the city
with or without party aid. He says in
his essay, that he wished TO stand "on
good terms with the machine" even al
1.-The cost of sacrificing many of or
Ideals" but he found the machine was
against him.
In spite, however, of the hostility OF
both national parties, his Board rlade
much progress in reforming the police
force of the city.
In speaking of the attacks of the
press upon him, he uses this striking
language, "the man who Is to do honor
able work in any form of civic politics
must make up his mind (and if he Is
man of properly robust character ne
will make it up without difficulty to
treat the assaults of papers like these
with absolute Indifference and to go
his way unheeded. Indeed he will have
to make UP his mind to be criticised
sometimes Justly, more often unjustly,
even by decent people; and he must not
be so thin skinned as to mind such
criticism overmuch.
The overthrow of the Reform govern
ment, and the triumph of Tammany al
the end OF two years. due to rigid en-
forcement of the Sunday liquor law by
the police force, makes another and
most serious chapter In the admins
tration of municipal rule. The large
and intelligent German vote, indignant
at being deprived of its Sunday beer,
went over to Croker and Tammany,
with the result that the wort set OF
municipal free-booters came into power
1t was not Mr.. Roosevelt's fault. He
was not a believer in the prohibitory
law. but he enforced it because it was
a law