The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-20
THE HERALD GIVES UP.
It Admits That Roosevelt Will Proba-
 bly, Re Elected.

IL Admits That Roosevelt VIII Proba- bly, Re Elected.
 New York Herald Editorial of the 18th. In three weeks from today the people will have to decide who will be their choice, MT. Roosevelt or Judge Parker. To speak quite frankly, there does not appear to be room for much un- certainty as to their probable decision
 It seems almost a foregone conclusion
 that MT. Roosevelt will be elected, not, perhaps, because the people have con- hdence in him and in his conception of
 the Presidential functions, but because
 the country Is prospering and thus the
 necessity for change Is not very pressing. <}A fs
 MT. Roosevelt fortunteiy has not yet 1 involved the United States in a dis astrous adventure, and this may induce
 the people to give him another oppor- | tunity. Satisfaction with actual condi- tions, in fact, and confidence that such conditions can be maintained fight up-
 on MT, Roosevelt's side in the electoral | contest. His chances are increased by
 the peoples misgivings as to the re- ality of the "change of heart" that the Democratic leaders profess to have ex- perienced. Mir. Bryan's grip upon his
 party has been ostensibly shaken off. but have all traces of his disorganiz- | ing reign been eradicated? Have the
 leaders of the Democratic Party defin- | itively foresworn Populism. silverism | and Utopianisms. which the American
 people as a whole will never sanction? :? Sufficient time has not yet elapsed since | the Democracy recovered it's senses to permit of a trustworthy reply being | given to such questions. As uncertain | ty as to something after death
 Makes us rather bear those ills we have
 Than fly to others that We know not of, | mocracy has shaken off Bryan perma- | nently or only temporarily may induce i many to cast a vote for MT. Roosevelt
 who under other circumstances might | prefer Judge Parker. The trend of popular opinion, in fact. with regard | to the two great political parties runs l in diametrically opposite currents. The people may doubt MT. Roosevelts pru- dence and judgment, but they rely upon Congress-and even if MT. Roosevelt be
 elected Congress may be Democratic | to prevent him carrying imperialism | too far. On the other hand. though the
 people trust Judge Parker implicitly
 they mistrust the influences surround
 ing him.
 Moreover, as election day draws nearer 1t becomes manifest that Dem
 oerats can oppose Republican discipline | and union with nothing more efflcacious
 than disunion and indecision. Evident ly the Democratic leaders, like the Irish | philosophers, have agreed to differ up- | on every point. Instead of fighting fire | with fre-that is, instead of meeting | | cratic organization, Republican una | nimity with Democratic unanimity- | each leader is riding his own particu- | lar hobby without due consideration for
 the interests of the party as a whole
 and without regard for common sense. | Judge Parker, for example, must sure | ly realize that he cannot arouse the
 American people over the Philippines
 or the Filipinos. Fer good or for evil
 and with the sacrifice of American | blood the islands have been acquired, | and the United States can abandon
 them no more than Germany could
 abandon the annexed provinces of AL
 sace and Lorraine.
 l Such questions do not concern prac- l tical politics: they are of interest only
 to debating societies, and the question | of home rule for the Fillpinos has only
 a theoretical importance Political con | alterations have compelled Germany to | maintain a distinction between Alsace-
 Lorraine and the remainder of the em- | pire Yet the people of those prov
 inces have as high conception os their civic duties as other inhabitants of l Germany. One cannot say the same of
 the Filipinos as compared with the
 would notsargue that the general levels
 of intelligence and education or the | standards of industry and enterprise | are as high In the Philippine Islands
 as they are in the United States. It
 would be more practical, therefore and
 more beneficial for the people concern
 ed to demand good American govern ment for the Filipinos than to Indulge
 in oratory about their theoretical right
 to autonomy and independence.
 For the foregoing reasons Mir. Roose-
 velt's election appears probable. Dur l ing the Civil War 1t was touching to
 note thta every defeat on either side was called "a blassing in disguise by the
 defeated party. One is tempted to ask whether Mir. Roosevelt's election may
 not prove a blessing in disguise. The President may regard his victory as an | encouragement to flourish the 'big
 stick" more energetically than ever | This sooner or later will involve the 1 United States in foreign complications
 and thus surely open the eyes of the
 American people to the dangers of im- | perialism in a republic. Thus his cleo | tion may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the cause of constitution
 alism. The possible defeat of Judge | Parker, moreover, may tecah the De- l mocracy to appreciate the importance l of resisting any future temptation to | follow will O the wisp politicians, whether their name be Bryan or, what l is more usual, "Dinnis."
 Thus Mir. Roosevelts election may be
 "a blessing in disguise" even for the Democratic Party. Be the consequences what they may. a decision must be | taken. The choice lies between impe-
 rialism and constitutionalism, and The people will have to decide!