Arizona republican., 1902-09-12
ROOSEVELT AS A SPEAKER.

l It is not possible to compare Mir.
 Roosevelt as a public speaker with any other president of the United States i who held office during the recollection of the eldest living voter. He stands absolutely alone in his style of public speaking. recognizes none of the rules and traditions which are supposed to hedge in a president, and uses with really charming indifference the words and expressions which come to him most readily to express his ideas and proclaim his convictions, even though they bear him very close to the borders of street slang. It would be confusing to judge of him by these speeches if it were not for his personality. He is distinctly the most interesting man in public life. Without regard to party he is regarded as honest and sincere, and hence language and a certain boyish- ness which would not be forgiven in another succeed in his case in evading criticism.
 President Mckinley developed real powers in public speaking, and at the moment of his assassination had just completed speech of rare felicity and power. One will search r. vain for suggestion of the Roosevelt sponta- neity. When former President Harri- son made his celebrated swing around the continental circle his frequent pub lie speeches surprised even those who had served with him in congress. A man of exactly opposite temperament [ from MT. Roosevelt. With a far less va ried public training, but with a far larger personal insig. into national subjects and issues. a man of reserved disposition, MT. Harr.~on nevertheless made a series of spec hes which were remarkable for their geniality anG grasp of local sentiment They should, after the manner of human criticism completely overshadow the speeches made by President RCos welt. but they not only do not do so. h1t they neither invite nor permit COT 'arison. We are entirely mistaken f. UT judgment if, after all, the people f the country do not prefer the addI -es of the present chief executive than his predecessor Their breeZiness and intense humanity please and disarm those who would make them the subject Of critical an- alysis. The man behind the gun makes the instrument of explos on more att tractive.
 Some commentator has remarked with truth that the president is more of a preacher than an orator, and We are inclined to the opinion that this is so. The-e are a number of public speakers who are known by their skill alone in that direction all over cho country who succeed in what the late MT. Bromley used to call "the turning up Of sentences" with ampler oraturical powers, but no one would think of call ing them preachers, or even men freighted with a mission. It will be noticed that while MT. Roosevelt shows a remarkable appreciation of huma | nature, he sticks very closely to his universal text. which is always tha: of good and active citizenship. He has put it, during his New England trip, in a hundred different ways. but in sense and essence it always gets back to the simple assertion that it is no use being good unless that admira ble quality shows itself in good deeds. He does not believe a man should be content to wear his citizenship, he should use it, constantly and persistently to raise the standard of government and the tone of society. It is his old belief in d strenuous life, and while it is not given to all of us to pitch with such needless ness of personal consequences into the numerous currents and deep waters of life there is not one of us who is not obliged to admit that his theory is not only a sound one, but one which is es- sential to the even and rational devel- opment of a free government. It is a Rooseveltian paraphrase of Patrick Aenry's famous utterance that "eter- nal vigilance is the price of liberty
 The impression which the president is making on the country is an agree able one, and bears very little relation 10 politics. His New England trip has imparted a still greater interest to the western trip which he will soon take. It will be interesting to see if he uses the same personal and semi-contem- plative point of view on his western