The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1906-04-25
ROOSEVELT A SOCIALIST.
POLITICIANS ARE GREATLY
STIRRED UP EY HIS CITER-
ANCES.
Socialists S;;re to Point to Them as
Triumph for Their Teachings ard
They Will Probably Make Presi-
dents Speech the Text OF Many
Campaign Arguments.

dents Speech the Text OF Many
Campaign Arguments.
Washington, April 17.-In cloak
room and committee room at the cap
itol President Roosevelt's suggestion
for a tax on inheritance is the subject
Of discussion among Senator'S and Rep
resentatives. Men are disinclined to
be quoted for publication, but in pri-
yate conversation express their views
freely.
From the legislative viewpoint, the
Presidents suggestion does not appear
to present any aspect of iminency. 1t
is not understood that he contemplates
recommending the plan formally to
the attention of Congress at least at
this time.
From the politicians outlook, how
ever the Presidents speech is expect
ed to have immediate and important
effect. How far-reaching it may be
none of the politicians venture to pre-
dict, but all are agreed that it will eX-
ert great influence in the coming cam
paigns. Their opinion is that the first
results will be to encourage the So
cialists to redouble their efforts.
While the president had no such
idea in view when he gave the doctrine
the Endorsement Of the foremost man
in public life, politicians agree that
the Socialists will Immediately point
to it as the triumph of one of their
teachings. With the presidents words
as their text, the Socialists, it is pre-
:dicted will preach their full creed and
distort his meaning. to their own ends
all down the line.
Farsighted politicians have been eS-
,pecting Socialistic campaign this
fall of unusual energy. Mr.. Hearst
set the ball rolling in New York last
fall in the mayoralty campaign He is
keeping it up at this moment through
out the State, in tn preIininaries OF
his campaign for the governorship
nomination. IN Chicago, Boston and
San Francisco his newspapers are To-
ment.ng the cause in their own pecu-
liar way.
The. debates in Congress this season
have been laying the foundation for
sociahstic preachings later on. The
county has been told of the alleged
wronging of the people by the rail-
roads, of rebates, determinations and
the like and of the necessity of passing
a stringent law to curb the carriers.
The magazines of the muck rake
variety. mathematical by the presl-
dent last Saturday have inflamed the
country with tales of the alleged in
trenchment of corporations in legls-
lative bodies and pictured the Presl-
dent as being hampered by the repre-
sentative of special interests.
Organized labor has declared def
ance against congress and has entered
the arena of politics with the declared
intention of defeating every man who
is not pledged to the bidding of the
organization in congress. There is un-
rest among the coal miners and posi-
bility of grave hating Of production
and earnings among the workers.
Politicians say that this is just the
kind of a situation wherein the Soc
ialists prosper and their doctrines
thrive in fertile soil. Tie Socialist
vote has been growing steadily. year
after wear coinc;dent with the in
creasing prosperity Of the country.
With all the conditions ripe for a
boom in Socialism. the politicians We're
asking each other today how far the
Socialists would succeed IN making
capital out of the presidents susges-
ton Of tax on inheritance.
The presidents friends insist that
his speech might prove to be happy
political stroke. Viewed in this light.
they said. the president sees the drift
of sentiment N certain quarters. ap-
prec;ates the unrest and the mutter-
ings. He forestalls the situation by
placing the Republican party in the
position Of admitting the evil and pro-
posing the cure With the idea that the
people would trust him and his party
in preference to some professed re-
formers. It is very much Ike setting
the grass afre ahead of you to check
the prairie fire in the rear
Some Of the utra-conservative
among the politicians fear that the
Socialists viii successfully comfort the