The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-09-14
Spirit of the Press.
Mr.. ROOseVelt'S Letter.

New York Herald.
Summed up in homely phrase Mr..
Rooseveit's lengthy letter OF accept
ance is stand pat" Like an impe-
tuous mountain stream. the current
of his utterance moves rapidly, dash
ing over, but not dislodging, the OBJ
stacles it encounters. Little COM
plant, however. can be made of its
ambiguity On the contrary, the
country is to be felicitated on the fl
that he differentiates most broadly
and clearly the Republican policies
for which he stands from the policies
proposed by the St. Louis platform,
providing that there is n wide and
deep gulf between the aims and prin-
cipleS of the two great parties.
In his ardent advocacy of his par
tvs extreme tenets. his repeated de-
nunciations of the "insincerity'' and
misrepresentation" of his oppon-
ents, and his high sounding praise of
Republican administrations since
1897, his letter forcibly recalls, as
was once said of an English chancel-
lor's speech, the self-laudation of
Cicero over 1.-THE immortal glories of
his own consulate The President
plants himself squarely upon the re-
cord Of his administration and defies
all criticism. There is apparently in
his letter no attempt to apologize for
anything that has been done under
Republican rule though, on the other
hand, the opposition is mercilessly
scored for its folly and malicious
methods designed to bring about
cessation of prosperity, to injure the
wage-earner and generally TO impair
the efficiency of the government and
introduce an era of commercial dis
aster. The Democrats. Mr. Roosevelt
evidently thinks. are not to be trusted
with the government and his letter
abounds in many labored and spe-
cious special pleadings to convict
them of imbecility and insincerity. In
painting his opponents in such dark
and forbdding colors without fur-
nishing adequate proofs of his sweep
ing criticisms or condemnation, Mr..
Roosevelt has committed grave
tactical bunder which the people,
who decide the election, cannot APP
plaud, and independent voters will
be repealed by the severity Of his
examinations. His repeated attempts
to throw the blame of the prostratiOn
of business which was so disastrous
in 1898 chiefly upon Mr.. Cleveland's
administration is a notorious contra
diction of historical facts-a contra
diction which has been so often ex-
posed and exploded that its revival
now will be generally regarded as an
outrage.
But aside from these deplorable
features of the letter the reader will
note with deepest concern Mr.. ROose-
velts latest and final utterances on
the principal issues of the campaign.
He boldly swallows the entire pro
lection policy of his party and
seemingly scouts the idea of any
tariff revision. 1t is evident that if
elected IN November he will sustain
with unmeasured zeal the extreme
radicals of Dingleyism in opposing
any real reduction of the present high
tariff. So far from bending to the
rising storm Of popular demand for
tariff reform and the elimination of
unnecessary and burdensome re-
straints of trade. his argument is for
a nerpetuation of the system by
which INSCRIPTIONS trusts are foster
ed. SO far from yielding to the cla-
NOR within his own party for
at least moderate reduction Of tariff
taxation he tells the recalcitrant Re
publicanS of the West and the East,
as he tells the great Democratic re-
formers:-'It is a matter of regret
that the protective tariff policy Whlch
during the last forty odd years has
become part of the very fibre of the
country, is not now accepted as de-
finitely established" This mature
utterance Of Mr.. Roosevelt can only
mean that he ranges himself with
the Stalwart enemies of all who
would seek to lower taxation and re-
lieve manufacturers and consumers
generally of the barbarous enormities
and excrescences of a protectionism
which has outgrown every decent
claim and has overridden the COM
mercial rights and liberties of the
people. Il is almost needless to note
that, as might have been expected
from his animadversions on tariff re-
form, Mr.. Roosevelt IN a few brief
sentences intimates Enthusiastically his
approval of the Utopian scheme by