The news & observer., 1905-10-24

party spirit before all other consldera-
tions. Bigotry SO dense knows not the
people of the South.
| Theodore Roosevelt, the parusan
Republican, succeeding the gentle NC
/ Kinley, with a ruthless assault upon
| Southern ideas and predilecuonS' III
| the IndianOla affair in the Crum al
fair and in the Booker Washington al
| fair-Theodore Roosevelt, the sell
willed Executive tWirling the Big SUCK
and riding rough-shod over whoever,
or whatever got in his way WiInout
much regard to law, or usage-Iheo-
dore Roosevelt the Presidential can
didate, who, having captured the ma
chine and secured his nomination,
seemed borne along upon a golden
stream of campaign contrlouuonS
| wrunS from the Corporations Dy
methods that to say the least OF them
| looked like cOerciOn-in short Iheo-
dore Roosevelt, the strenuous, aroused
| the antagonism and invited the at
tac<s of all who could see in his cleo
| ton only a menace to the peace OF the
country as we'll as to good order ana
good feeling in the Southern part of
| it.
| That was a year ago.
| Coming in upon a wave or uneX-
ampled popular voltion-partiy the
rebound of extraordinary conditions
| but at the same time an undenlable
| personal tribute-anOther and quite a
different, Theodore Roosevelt appear
| ed upon the scene; the Big Stick was
laid away; the habiliments of the
| Rough Rider were exchanged for more
conventional apparel; words were ut
tered and cngineries were set in mo-
ton which gave the people promise of
| emancipation from the rapacity of
certain aggregatiOnS of capital that
lhad long defied the law; and, finally,
| by an act of daring as original as 1t
was felicitOus, and sustained through
out by unflagging persistence and in
|telligent purpose, this recreated
Theodore Roosevelt stands forth
very archangel of peace, bringing upon
himself and his country glory unspeak-
able.
These are simple facts emphasized
| by their uneXpectedness, for they did
mot spring and could not spring from
any logical deduction either of per-
sonal character or of political ante
| cedents.
The Theodore Roosevelt who spoke
| at Richmond of Lee and Jackson
| who, standing in the Confederate CAPT
| tai, under the shadow of sectional bat
| tlefelds, bravely put sectionalism and
partyism beneath his feet-who, ten
derly and in the name of dead
mother, claimed kindred here-is
gray horse of quite another color.
Then and there he touched the button
| that in an instant thrills as it lights
Iall Southern hearts. Then and there
| he wiped out every old score and
opened a fresh set of books. Who has
| Ichanged he or we? What boots it?
| Maybe neither-maybc, just a case of
plain, old-fashioned misunderstanding!
| Meanwhile, there is no disputing, no
resisting words like these:
| Coming today by the statute
of Stonewall jackson, in the city
of Lee, l felt what a privilege it
| is that |, as an American possess
in claiming, that you yourselves
| possess no greater. sight of kinship
| in Lee and Jackson than / have.
| can claim to be a middling good
! American, because my ancestry
| is half Southern and half North
ern; [ was born in the East and
| / have lived a good while in the
| West-so long, in fact that | do
| not admit that any man can be a
| better WeSterner than l am. There
was an uncle of mine. now dead,
my mothers brother, who has al
! ways been among all the men
have ever known the man who it
| seemed to me came nearest to
typifying in the flesh that most
| beautiful of all characters in tic-
| tion-Thackery'S Col. NeWCOme-
! my uncle, James DunWOOdy Bull
| lOch, an. Admiral in the Confede-
4 !, rate navy. In short, gentlemen,
| claim to be neither Northerner,
| nor SOutheTner, nor Fastener
| nor WeSterner, nothing but a
! good American, pure and simple.
| Next to a mans having worn the
blue comes the fact of the man, S
| having worn the gray, as emitting
him to honor in my sight"
| In breadth of patriotic spirit and in
| far-reaching Statesmanlike suggestion,
nothing finer than this was said by
Abraham Lincoln. 1t deserves, indeed,
| to be recorded in letters of gold along
side the Gettysburg speech, being at
once an echo and confirmation of that
| Immortal utterance. Breathing such
sentiments, bearing such a message,
| Theodore Roosevelt becomes one of
us, which is only to say that we are all,
all Americans, equally proud of COM
mon country, equal heirs of it's sub
lime traditions, nor less loyal to the
| Flag of the Union because we fol-
| lowed the Flag of the Confederacy.
| The South has wandered forty years
through a wilderness of Sectionalism
for this vision of the promised land of
| perfect Nationality. 1t has longed for
some Messiah of patriotism and broth
erhood TO rise in the North and to
| reach out to it the hands of equality,
having a heart in it. TO Theodore
| Roosevelt this happy lot has fallen;
and, having fought him like man,
| the South sends the memory of all
! frictions to the rear, and greets and
| acclames him as a kinsman.
| Though we differ tomorrow, never
again shall there be from us acerbity
| of thought or speech. Today. at least,
jshall be given to the love of God, to
the fellowship of manhood, and to the
unity and glory of our country. Let
mean and paltry bgots let glum- faced
| partyism, for a moment stand aside.
| Room, room alone, whilst the Presi-
dent passes through "the States lately
| in rebellion for the Grandeur of the
| Nation and the Majesty of the People!
| Too Early Yet and The Frost Might
Nip Aspirations in the Bud.
HendersOnville Hustler.
The News and Observer agrees with