The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1904-10-20
Two Men BY The Soc

provinces down By the Atlantic ocean
n yer so fully impresses itself upon
the mind as just after taking trip
across the continent. Those chaps
down there; with an acumen that we
can not help admiring, not only plan
to gather the fruits of the toll of the
100000 of people stretching across
continent 1900 miles wide, but they
must always have one of their own
number to rule over us. The farthest
west they have ever yet gone for a
president is far short of half way
across the continent. Now they have
put up two candidates, both from the
state OF New York and Judge Parker
has never crossed the Mississippi and
is so thoroughly provincial that he
was never even in Washington but
once in his life.
The editor of The Independent, liv-.
ing west of the Missouri river, after
travelling nearly 1000 miles before he
reached the backbone of the con-
tinent and then with two locomotives
at the head Of the train which snorted,
nIffed aud burned tons of coal, in
slxteen- fso<sEs. cot him to the summit,
IL 500 feet above the ycxx3sEaL where
he began to descend along VIA the,
mountain streams toward the Pacific
ocean. Millions of human beings were
stOlling to the east of him and millions
to the west. living their lives, prepar-
ing BY the work Of their hands better
conditions for the generations to come
after them. What do these men down
by the Atlantic care for these people
OF the plains and the t.a.ias? What
do they know about them? Are the
people Of the provinces down by Coney
Island likely to be defenders of the
economic interests of the men and
women out here? They have but little
in common with the hopes, or the
ideals of the freemen of the west. IN
their minds we exist only for the pur-
pose Of exploitation.
If Judge Parker could climb the
mountains behind a locomotive, look
down thousands of feet into a gorge
as the train chung to the sides of the
perpendicular cliff the way for it
hewn out of the solid granite or gaze
far away where snoW-clad noun
tain peak lowered above tie billowy
clouds, or cast his eyes across thou
sands OF acres where huge masses Of
rock we're strewn about, each one q
perfect cube as If cut with the hand
Of man.. or little later look over q
beautiful valley where there we're
miles of fruit trees with limbs bend
ing low from. their loads Of apples,
painted red and yellow with hues more
.dalicate than any artist was ever able
to mix, wfissa1s an every side rise the
mountains clothed ii Iifei1ss z.atArnal
robes of white. he might come to the
conclusion that there was something
more in this world than the words
whispered in his ears by Hill, Sheehan
and Grover Cleveland.
But. there is no hope of such thing.
He has spent most of the years of man
hood listening to lawyers quarrel over
insignificant technicalities and the
hours outside of the court room trying
to find out how other judges have de-
cided the same points. No great fun
damental principles have ever been
brought into his court. The result of
such life has ruined his mind. until
instead of having ideals he seems to
have no ideas, or if he has, he has
never acquired enough English to ex-
press them. His speech at his notifi-
cation and his letter of acceptance are
proof in themselves that they were
both written by the same hand. and
also that if he ever had a clear cut
idea it was utterly impossible for him
to communicate it to others. There is
not a sentence in either document that
has ever been quoted, because not
sentence could be found that contained
an idea.
But how about Roosevelt? He knows
the vastness of this continent. He
has seen the snow-capped mountains,
the beautiful valleys and the wide
spread, fertile plains. Ill-health drove
him to the plains. But while he was
here with whom did he associate?
Was it with the educated, the refined,
the men who were building the
churches, the schools and the col
leges? Who were his companions?
The cowboys! The sort of men who
were accustomed to make a raid into
civilization and "shoot up the towns"
every two or three months. With
them he was so captivated that in one
of his books he defends the lynchings
of those days. He adopted their man