Delaware gazette and state journal., 1902-12-04
TEE PRESIDENTS RETREAT.

does IL under the guise of correcting a
'misappre hensinn;" and when it an
nounoes change of policy, it covers it
up with the assumption that the volte-
face was. really the original line Of
march. gAll these we'll known char
acteristics appear in President Roose.
velt's explanation of his plunge into
Addicks' political gas tank. In sub
stance, it is retreat. Mr.. Roosevelt
has taken fright. Such volume of
protest has gone up against his dali
lance with the must unblushine cor
ruptionist in American politics, that.
he has seen it to be impossible for eys
. spoiled child Of party like himsey,. sn
persist in that course. So he ~ .9u 70
best face he can on the Y.4.uts tne
says he never intended thlpsseer, ano
pointment to be sopt- Eyrne ap-
with which be was AZ, aa % tne iaction
We think that q insu.
have fled down tE;sol oi;s;oa, Mooseseiu e migns
bill in a mQE AIS political san Juan
evident, toes tn. % u * iaSr,on Snr, - h;s y
BypF still require explanation. IL
~ me appointment had nothing to do
9th Addioks, why was it announced
directly after that ill-smelling boss
had called upon the President in COM
pany with the dirty work member of
his Cabinet. Postmaster General Payne?
Why did Mr.. Payne at cnoe follow it
up by explaining in public that the
President had determined to recognize
Addiokss Why did Mr.. Roosevelt
himself say to SO many callers that the
Addicks Republicans in Delaware we're
evidently in the majority, ana must
have at least their share Of the patron
age? These are among the "misappre-
tensions which the White House
statement does nothing whatever to
allay. As we say, it would have been
much better il the Rough Rider had
a little less uncertainty sounded the
retreat on his authorized" bugle.
Still, we think there can be no doubt
that the President has climbed down.
His statement will so be taken in Della
ware, we believe. Those Republicans
and Democrats who have been fighting,
at such fearful odds. with the execrable
,corrupter of that State, will today be
relieved of the fear that Rooseveit's
sword was to be used against them.
They will, it is to bs hoped, strain
every nerve now to compass the final
defeat Of the most despised and hated
boss in America. II the President, after
the warning he has had, shall hereafter
lift finger to aid Addicks, receive
him, or one of his henchmen, at the
White House again, or throw the
weight of single Presidential post
office Tor allow the Postmaster. General
to place even the fourth class officesl
against the men who are struggling for
the honor of Delaware, he will be held
up anew TO deserved scorn as a par
taker in Addicks' political crimes. The
eyes of the country will be on him,
and we have every confidence that his
sense of the sleepless vigilance of the
press will be such as to keep him from
another lapse like the Byrne appoint
ment.
His defence of that, considered merely
as an isolated case, is but limping
performance. He puts it partly on per-
sonal grounds. Byrne, he says, was "a
stanch supporter of the President when
he ran for governor and afterward. %
This brings the appointment into the
category of those ''good fellows'' whom
Mr.. Roosevelt is bound to take care of
and comfort with Offices. "Joe''
Murray was one such personal servant
OF the Presidents foisted upon the Fed
eral service. He would make out Byrne
to be another. But saying nothing for
the moment OF the line grace with which
such appointments come from a pro-
fessed Civil Service reformer, there we're
two reasons, in the Byrne case, with
both of which the President should
have been acquainted, and either of
which should have been sufficient to
prevent him from naming the Addicks
man as district attorney. In the first
place, he was not competent. His mis-
handling of the office had lost him the
confidence of the community, and had
brought down upon him rebuke in
open court from the Federal Judge of
the district. This was notorious. On
the ether hand, there stood the tenn
porary incumbent of the Office, with
overwhelming endorsements of the
highest character. But the Civil Ser
vice reformer in the White House
passed over the fit candidate and took
the unit "stanch supporter. Quite
apart from that Byrne was, let the
President say what he will, nothing
but swollen braggart of the Addicks
following. Since his appointment he
has been bursting into Interviews de-
claring that he and Addicks and Roose-
velt were going to wipe out the anti
Addicks element of the party in Della
ware.
In that Addicks taint was ample
cause for refusing his appointment, and
there is ample cause, too, for demand
ing that the President now Withdraw
it, and for contesting and defeating his
confirmation by the Senate, if he will
not. That is the next point of attack
for independent and unbought news
papers. They have won a great victory.
They have stirred up public opinion of
such formidable kind that it compelled
even heacstrong President to take
the back track. After studying the
extent of what he euphemistically calls
the "misapprehension" caused by his
tentative alliance with Addicks, he fled
as ihcontinently as his fellow sports
man of the Tennessee mountains, who
said:
l was the mightiest hunter that ever We see,
TIL thet thar cattermourt tuck arter me.
The President has, We say, had his
lesson. He has learned thst even his
popularity and prestige will not enable
him to defy decent opinion. He has
found out that the most indignant pro-
testations of virtuous motives will not
be accepted as an excuse for reoklessly
bad acts, This is great gain-both
for him and the country. It is full
justification of those newspapers which
scorded the policy of suppression and
silence, set forth the facts, spoke out
their mind, and reused such sentiment
that the President did not dare disre.
gard it.
ANOTHER PERSONAL APPOINTMENT.