Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-01-05

republicans, the Republican ticket
polied 45Sb90 votes. and there are. there
lore 49o,dgO men who regret that the
PRESIDENT did not give the keystone
state Republicans his support.
81. ms matter might be made 10 include
NeW York City, where despite the
silence OF the President, William NJ
lyins polled 1909 votes. the men who
cast them marching under the Ropub-
hcan banner although the President Of
the United States did not lead.
These are some of the reasons given for
tne alleged waning OF the popularity of the
PRESIDENT Never a strong party man, he
has begun 20 actively concern himself
with party affairs. and already the poll
lcpns are declaring that he is planning TO
capture the party He has acted in New
FORK probably for the good of the party
nut it Is believed he has made antago-
nisms there that viii last longer than his
term as President
The politicians who think the popularity
ct the President is not so great as it was
before say the feeling is beginning to per-
wade the backwoods that the square
deal has not been exactly what they UNI
derstood it was to be. The rural voters
oil the country, the politicians say, are
reading the newspapers more than ever
Every crossroads postoiiice now gets its
batch of daily papers, and these discuss
such questions as the dismissal of Min
ister Bowen and the retention IN Office Of
Assistant Secretary of State LOOMS, the
acqmttal by the President of the former
general manager Of the Sante Fe on the
charge OF rebate giving, and the recent
Wholesale indictments OF other railroad
managers not close 70 the administration;
the dismissal of the assistant treasurer at
Philadelphia for violating the Civil Service
law, and the abolition by the President
himself OF the regulation that persons in
the Civil Service might be given a hearing
before dismissal
Ii may be that these men are entirely
wrong in their reading Of the signs OF the
times, and that on the first occasion the
President may have of testing the feeling
OF the public for him he may discomfit his
enemies and stand out as the only man the
country really cares for. But many mem-
bers OF Congress have a unique theory
about the President popularity. They
seem to think il is due TO the fact that
Mr.. Roosevelt has managed in season and
out OF season TO keep himself constantly
in the public eye.
AAe has ANlI ilAAltN great tNlIlEHs ilnt
men say that each time he has done some
thing greater than the other Immediately
preceding. They think he has got TO keep
this pace up, or the great esteem in which
he is held will not last. In the case of
many of those the wish is father TO the
thought.
But it will set folks to wondering where
Mr. Roosevelt will find other worlds to
romrffar uffnr 1,n hoe Ianfrr. tha raflrrnIa
and how he viii find a greater thing to
attempt than the bringing about OF peace
between Russia and Japan
A great many persons who criticise
the President say he has changed since
he was elected in 1904, and that he has
become dictatorial They point great
differences in the manner of running the
government When Mr. Roosevelt sent
his first annual message to Congress in
December, 1901 he dwelt on the fact
that the public was entitled to the fullest
publicity of great corporations. He
wasted these quasi-public creations Of
State laws laid open to the inspection
OF the public "lhe fullest publicity"
was the way he put IL.
But, under Mr.. Roosevelt, the ten
dency Of the government at Washing
ton is said to avoid publicity of the
greatest corporation Of all, the United
States. The first sign Of this was noted
In the remarkable order issued to the
cabinet last October, in which heads OF
departments were forbidden to talk to
newspaper correspondents This order
was never rescinded, but the President
called some OF the scribes to the White
House a few weeks later and told them
it was all a mistake, or something Of that
sort
Since then there has been marked
Tightening OF the news, and this is all
the more remarkable because Mr.. Roose-
welt has always attributed his success to
the fact that he took the public into his
confidence; that he played "the open
game, so TO speak
1t is no longer the "open game" in
Washington Things are being covered
up. IL is is almost impossible to get in
formation, except that which is con-
tanned in the formal official reports at
some of the departments. Only the
other day one Of the most accessible
members of the cabinet issued a note
stating that during the remainder of the
winter he would be unable to see any
person without first having an appoint
ment made.
This week the Secretary Of the Depart
ment of Commerce and Labor, almost
turned the department upside down be-
cause a trihing item was published about
the report of an immigration agent. Every
head Of a bureau of the department had
been warned not to talk to newspaper men
and all the information that can be OBJ
tanned in that department is placed
solemnly by the secretary on a blackboard
in his anteroom.
The same policy prevails in almost every
department of the government. This
leads inevitably to the feeling that there is
much that the Roosevelt administration
desires to conceal.
Mr. Roosevelt will have no chance Of
testing his popularity at the polls as he did
in 1904 He has said that he would not
be candidate for the Presidency. again.
But he may be able to test his strength
with his party IN 1908, should he try to
control the national convention in that
year, and seek to dictate the standard
bearer of the party.
THE BULLS HORNS.