The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1902-09-05

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/ ly decided to be known as an anti
trust man and in his speeches his
! weight is thrown against combinations
| Of capital--not coarsely and abusively
! good trusts, as distinguished from bad
ones, President Roosevelt does not stop
| to point them out.
AS | have said, the representatives
of wealth, the old-line politicians, are
| opposed to this sort of thing and prac-
/ tically it is bearing fruit as campaign
! contributions from corporation sources
1 are said to lag very perceptibly. One
/ member of the No onal committee told
me that Presto It Roosevelt could
never be re-ele@.~d and this belief is
frequently voiced among the deep"
ones-but l in rpret it as an affecta-
/ ton III Il monet of annoyance ROose-
! welt, with all lis refcrmings. keeps his
! enemies guessing by sharp turns. His
! choice of HI. c. Payne for the Cabi-
net pre-empted some Roosevelt ter
ritory among a class of men who 9th
erwise now would be whispering about
| that Roosevelt cannot be reelected.
| His appointment was specifically de-
! signed to cheek-make Mr. Hanna. 1t
is gratifying to know that Senator
/ Spooner continues in loyal support and
! cooperation with President Roosevelt.
Reciprocity and Trusts.
The theory of this reaction is that at
two points the President will be ex-
! posed as navailing-exhibited before
the country prior to 1904 as unable to
! get things he goes after. One is this
Cuban reciprocity, as to which he has
, already been thrown down hard; and
the other is, constitutional amend
ment allowing the federal Congress to
! get at trusts in the states. This last
it will be very difficult to effect, many
think impossible The hope, or at least
the prophecy, of the contingent who
look to see a new man head the Re
| publican ticket is that with such a split
with COngreSS-sucL a succession of
rebuffs-Roosevelt will be in Grover
Clevelands position and be retired to
public life,
The ''old guards are still lamenting
Mckinley. He was so different. Nc
klnley was so courteous, so consider
ate-he let you do the talking, and it
even scenes as if you furnished the
ideas for his policy-so tactful and
deferential was this wonderful Nc
Kinley. Washington City reveres his
memory and dwells much on the con-
trast with this youthful, irrepressible,
impulsive Roosevelt
And yet his personality is very en-
Joying and attractive to the common
people. The politicians, yes, if YOU
| please, the statesmen may not relish
; his bluntness, his off-hand utterances.
his downright Openness in dealing
with issues as they come up, but the
people like that sort of thing. He
says good many callow things-any-
one would who says so many things;
but the public understands this as well
as the prOfOundest critic
Take this one: A New York friend
was at the White House not long ago.
The two were walking along a corridor
at smart space, when RoOsevelt-aI-
ready in quick action-slapped his
hands together with a resounding
smack and almost shouted, 80. this
being President is lots of fun He
was running over with enthusiasm.
He meant it. He enjoys life. He is
i'll harmony with things.
Now this outfit of innocence and
frankness is effective 1t confounds
ones enemies. 1t presumes honest in
tent and Roosevelt is taken for an
honest, fearless man, which is a ire
mendOus advantage and offsets y mil
tltude of indiscretions. 1t is a cheer
ing fact that such man as Seth Low
should be mayor of New York. Odeu
Governor Of New York State and
Theodore Roosevelt President of the
nation-all strong, sensible, honest and
cultivated men whose idea of public
life is service to Others
Must Hope and Wait
When we come to ROoSeVelt's ability.
here we must hope and wait. His
speeches, frank and humane as they
are, often sound immature. They lack
the ripe, mature wisdom of Benjamin
Harrison. But what can one expect
in the way of saying immortal things,
from man of 45? Roosevelt is often
diffuse and disconnected and some
times superficial when he exchanges
the philosophy of life for the concrete
things, but he is never foolish Nor
is he wholly an experiment He has
held long line Of offices and proved
equal to the successive things given
him to do. The people are satisfied