The independent., 1904-05-12

nessee rendered valuable service tC
his country when, on April Is, 1904
he took occasion to tell the house oi
representatives a number of things re-
garding Theodore Roosevelt which the
republican members, If they did know
were trying very hard to forget and
have the people generally forget.
AS q rule The Independent does not
place much stress upon the inconsis-
tencies and idiosyncrasies of men as q
campaign argument, but prefers to
look to the principles involved. But
the republican party, desirous of win
ming upon the supposed great popular
ity Of President Roosevelt and keep
ing everything else In the background
as much as possible, 1t becomes per-
tinent to inquire, what manner OF man
is this? What principles does he
stand for?
Congressman Patterson has fur
nished an answer worth any mans
while to read. Mr.. bryan has likened
Judge Parker to an Interrogation point
because Of his silence on public ques-
tions; but Mr.. Patterson shows the
hero of Kettle Hill to be fully as puz-
zling question mark--but not because
Of silence. Rather the lack Of it. He
has been on SO many different sides
Of SO many different questions that one
can not place him.
Except In one thing. And that is
his uniform contempt for most OF
those who have preceded him in the
presidential chair The Independent
advises It's readers to write Congress-
man Patterson at Memphis, Tenn. and
he will doubtless favor them with a
COPY of this interesting biography
OF the Author Warrior President
One portion must be quoted from
that speech, because 1t shows the cal
iber Of the man. It will interest pop
ulist readers of The Independent to
know how highly he appreciates the
virtues of The Old Guard OF Populism.
OF course, populists have read this
before but It's good time now to re-
view 1t and learn what the Great and
Good Theodore said aDout them:
In his (Roosevelt's) political PAM
phlet on the Campaign OF 1896" he
writes Of the populists who followed
Watson In that year In this discrimin-
ating language:
"Mr. WatsOn's followers belong to
that school of southern populists who
honestly believe that the respectable
and. commonplace people who own
banks, railroads, dry goods stores, fac
tories, and the like are persons with
many of the mental and social -attri-
butes that unpleasantly distinguish
Heliogabalus, Nero, Caligula and 9TH
er worthless of later Rome. Not only
90 they believe this, put they say 1t
with appalling frankness They are
very sincere, as rule, or at least the
rank and file are. They are also very
suspicious. They distrust anything
they can not understand; and as they
understand but little, this opens very
wide field for distrust They are apt
to be emotionally religious. If not,
they are then at least atheists OF an
archaic type.
Refinement and comfort they are
apt to consider quite as Objectionable
as immortality. That a man should
change his clothes In the evening. that
he should dine at any other hour than
noon, impressed these good people as
being symptoms Of Uepravity instead
Of merely trivial. A taste for learn
ing and cultivated friends and q ten
dency to bathe frequently cause them
the deepest suspicion. A well-to-do
man they regard with jealous distrust,
and II they can not be well-to-do them
selves, at least they hope to make mat
ters uncomfortable for those that are.
They possess many strong. rugged vir-
tues. but they are quite impossible po-
lltlcally. because they always confound
the essentials and nonessentials. and
though they often make war on vice.
they rather prefer making war on
prosperity and refinement"
He also uses this language Of popu-
lists In general:
Thrift. industry. and business en-
ergy are qualities which are quite In
compatible with true populistic feel-
Ing. Payment OF debts. like tho sup
preston OF riots. In abhorrent TO the
a