Middletown transcript., 1904-10-03
WASHINGTON LETTER

take him twenty years 10 learn as mucn
about public iaffairs as the President
knows. Legislature at twenty-one years
of age then old Civil Service Commits
sioner, Police Commissioner, Secretary Of
the Navy, officer in the Army in victor
GUS war, Governor of New York, Presid-
ing Officers of the L. S. Senate; and
President OF the United States! To take
a man from even so exalted a place as the
Supreme Bench of his state and place him
in the executive office Of the greatest
modern people is too hazardous wrench
both for the man and the country.
Cleveland with his better preparation
and experience as Mayor and Governor
was clumsy and half paralyzed, and he
left the Presidency worse hated land is
to this day. by his own party than the
opposition.
*#*
1t is well within the truth to say that
Theodore Roosevelt came to the Office
better equipped for the duties of the
Presidency than any predecessor. His
thought, his writings and his public life
were as fortuitous a preparation as if he
had been specially educated for the Pre-
sidency. But when We add to his unique
preparation, his remarkable manly vigor,
undulled by age; an appetite and capacity
for work equal to that Of Gladstone; with
irrepressible zeal for the publication and
improvement Of the public, we have an
ideal seldom realized in the history of
nations.
-
And now some amateur American col
lege engineers have discovered a way to
shunt the romping Charges river into the
Pacific Ocean and thus relieve the
Panama Canal of its greatest menace, and
make seaevel ditch possible. Mr..
Wallace the high-salaried engineer says
the shunt can be accomplished at cost
of SIG, 10000 and net saving Of $20,-
600, 900 to say nothing of the incompar-
able advantage of lockless waterway.
~
At most critical period of our history
We had in the presidential chair a con-
servative, timid, old man. His lack of
strenuousness cost the country untold
blood and treasure. We are on the
verge Of another period, perhaps not less
critial. New and perilous questions are
clamoring for solution. Happily the
mental, moral and physical antithesis of
James Buchanan is in the White House
Let us hold him there.
49,
The President has no lack of business.
He is receiving delegations of all sorts
of people from all parts Of the world; en-
tertaining notable personages; writing
letters; and hunting down alleged for
geries of his sentiments. Quite large
delegation of French artisans, sent by
their government to the st. Louis Exibi-
ton, have been made welcome to the
White House. The President has ex-
pressed much satisfaction over the out
come of vexatious little incident which
was causing some annoyance. 1t was
supposed that the Presidents name had
been forged to letter which he never
wrote, and which was being circulated
among the miners in Colorado. 1t ap-
pears that it was in reality an extract
from what was called an Humorous edi-
torial" in a New York evening paper,
which is anything but friendly to the
Administration. The western press was
imposed upon anu the sequel shows how
hard pressed some news purveyors are
for sensation. All sorts of wild cat ru-
mors are afioat in the political atmos-
phere regarding the amount of money
called for and actually contributed to
carry on the campaign. But as fast as
one rumor starts it is fatty contradicted
and another set afloat. The Republican
managers are content with the outlook.
-
The President held Cabinet Confer
ence yesterday. Four members of his
official household were present They
were Secretaries Taft, Shaw, Hitchcock
and Attorney General Moody. The ses-
sion continued for about two hours but
the Cabinet ministers coming out, gave
assurances that no question of serious
import had been considered. Some time
was devoted to talk about the political
situation. Three members, Taft, Shaw
and Moody, are expecting to engage
actively in the campaign from now until
November 8th. There was absent one
member who will probably never again
engage in any campaign. The Postmas-
ter General is lying, it is thought, at the
point of death at the Arlington Hotel,
his ailment-heart failure being very
81 milar to that of his friend and patron
Senator Hanna.
~
There is another little tempest in a
teapot anent the lie that Admiral Schley
was not invited to see the launching of
the battleship Connecticut. He was in
vited but did not respond in person.
Doubtless like many others who were
called but did not come, he had good
reasons for staying away. Why will not
Schley and the world let the question Of
the Santiago battle rest. He has just is
sued book on his claims. 1t is well
known i'll the Navy that the battle was
won neither by Scliley nor Sampson, but
by the captains OF the various battle
ships and the men behind the guns. Win
the world never get beyond the primary
class in supposing that the Napoleons
and the Caesars, the Won Moltkes and
The Kuorkis win the battles. 1t is really
time that the common sailor were having
their due, or better still, let the world
have peace. Tolstoi, in his work "War
and Peace" has demonstrated the little
ness Of zen so his!rionically portentious,
a figure as Bonaparte.
/ have purchased horse and wagon, |