The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-08-03
PUTTING ON A CLOAK.

ance speech must be struck-not so
much by what he says as by what he
does not say. 1t has been but short
while since his utterances, public and
private. were filled with bravado aud
birthstone, as though he had no higher
ambition than to make himself out q
kind of Bombastes Furioso. dealing out
defiance to all creation. BY COMPARE
son, his acceptance speech was mild
as any sucking dove" he might have
said to his expectant hearers.
There can be ut one solution of this
great change. and that is purely a
question of policy. Whether it is of
his own motion or because 1t has been
driven into him by his advisors. is
really immaterial but 1t is there. Be-
fore the nomination of Parker the
President evidently thought he had a
dead cinch on the office. There had
been so much exploitation of Hearst
and Bryan, SO much said about gold
bugs and reorganizers, so many predic-
tions OF trouble at st. Louis and after.
that he thought himself in no danger.
He thought the Democratic Convention
would split, or that 1t would nomi-
nate weak man on a milk-and-water
platform and go before the country
with certain defeat awaiting it.
All that hope was knocked crooked
by the action of the convention, and
N zt,r To nf
his Party saw the Importance of it.
They know that the Democrats haye
put forth a good man on an excellent
platform. 1t is a man and a platform
to attract the very best elements OF
the country, both Democrats and in
dependents.
What could be done except to hedge?
Roosevelt wants to be elected, and to
be elected he must have the votes.
These votes that he needs are not all
hide-bound uSRepublicans.. Many OF
them are independent. conservative
citizens who will vote for safe Demo-
crat in preference to an unsafe Re-
publican. He knows that. and he
knows that he can't tie these votes to
him by spectacular. dynamite speeches
and INTERVIEWS. MUCH OF his public
utterance of late has been of nature
to cause distrust among good citizens
and to drive them away from him
Hence his sudden mildness.
For the good of the country at large
| we would welcome this change from
Roosevelt drunk to Roosevelt sober. II
we thought it genuine. but we do not.
He has put on this conciliatory style
as one would put on cloak. He is
just as unsafe as ever. If elected, he
will throw off the mask of mildness,
and the broncho-buster will break
forth in a worse form than ever.
mild and thoroughly safe Roosevelt Is
a physical and mental impossibility.
Those who vote for him under the be-
lief that he has reformed Will hnd
themselves deceived. 1t is the same
Roosevelt with thin veil on. Be-
hind the veil the features of Mokanna
are unchanged.
Mr.. Roosevelt cannot fool the people
bay~tais.I ssaesR RESstssgn@sss. Of eonserva-
I tism. He cannot convince the voters
that his leaving out the big stick all
at once means a change of heart. He
feels sure OF the politicians of his own
Party, and now he is making a bid
for the conservative Independents and
the gold Democrats who voted for Nc
Kinley or refrained from voting
Especially is he wanting the vote OF
all those New Workers who could not
support Mr.. Bryan, but we predict that
he will not get them. They will ask
| themselves IL his conversion is genuine
| If there 10 doubt of 1t, they will have
none of him, and even If there is hope
! that he has changed. they will decide
| that 1t is better to vote for a known
safe man like Judge Parker. That Is
about the way they will reason and
act. The cloak doesn't fit we'll.