Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1905-04-27
RoosEvELT's DECLARATION
It May Be Necessary for the Presi-
dent to Make 1t Still
More Emphatic.


Tor his southern trip amid a buzz o.
speculation. The prediction that h,
will be the republican candidate fol
president in lyUS is not limited TO {
sensational newspaper which was, os
tensibly at least, his n~on-supporter IL
1904; it is echoed by republicans and
washington correspondents who have
In other matters written as if inspired
nave contributed their mite to the
third term propaganda. 1t becomes in.
teresting, therefore, observes the Al.
5any Argus, to recall the exact pledge
uttered by Mr.. Roosevelt to the news.
papers, and through them to the PEG.
pie, on the night of November s, IN an
hour when his great triumph at the
polls was already apparent.
"On the 4th of March | shall have
served three and one-half years, and
this three and n half years consti-
tutes my first term. The wise custom
which limits the president to two
terms regards the substance and not
the form. Under no circumstances will
be a candidate for or accept another
term"
b two words "or accept" greatly
strengthens and solidify this solemn
pledge. Palmer words were never
spoken" says the New York Sun. Per
haps that is an reinstatement. Gen.
Sherman, when he said substantially
that he would not accept if nominated,
nor serve if elected, set the pace and
made the model for all time, in decli-
nations intended to decline. But, new
ertheless, President Roosevelt's declar-
alton and pledge is sufficiently explicit
go that to call it in question implies
a doubt of his sincerity, truthfulness
and good faith, and we would not pre-
sumo to suggest that he reiterate it,
with even greater emphasis had not
men who claim to be his friends cast
doubts which might more naturally
have proceeded from sources of accept
ed hostility.
Repetition is the mother of edu-
cation" There are times when to say
the same thing over and to say it more
emphatically, is the attribute of
strength, not the sign of weakness.
Furthermore, things have been done
and countenanced by the president,
since November last, which need to be
explained and Invested of all hint of
Caesarism.
1t was a mistake, for instance, to let
he retirement of Cortelyou-that is,
to say, of Roosevelt-from the repub-
lican national committee pro forma,
rather than real. 1t was a mistake to
have Roosevelt-that is to say, Cor
telyou-appoint a dummy acting chair
man; the national committee should
have a real chairman, avoid of suspi-
cion of white house dictation. It is so
natural for President Roosevelt to like
power, and to exercise it for the sake
of activity. that it is thinkable that he
permitted these things to be done in
the honest belief that the hand of New
would be seen, and the voice of Cor
telyou heard no longer; that no man
would perceive the convenience of such
an arrangement to a receptive third
term attitude or to a situation whereby
the white house should say who shall
be its next occupant.
He who would avoid all hint of Gaze
sarism must be, like Caesars wife,
above suspicion. We sincerely hope
that the president will be dissuaded
By no false pride from making yet an
other declaration, which shall forever
put to sleep the thought that he is ca
pable of aspiring or ~consenting to the
third term which the Father of His
Country relinquished-which precedent
and the spirit of our institutions alike
torbid-which no American, however
great, will attain.