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


and his secretary of war, in whom he
vested supreme authority, are answemble
Yet while most of this money was being
expended and things vet TO be exposed bv
congress were being done the President
was resting at Oyster Bay and his secre-
tary OF war was on the other side of tho
world conducting a tour of statesmen 10
the Philippines.
The most vivid hashlight let in on The
| Panama situation, as il conironts the
administration is the news that Mr.
Root has been called in TO give advice
as TO the nature of the statement which
shall be made to Congress. The unrest
over the outlook has been growing ever
since it became known that senators
were busily engaged in inquiring about
certain important purchases by the COM
I mission and into the manner these pur-
chases were made.
Indeed, the report in Washington Is
that the friends of Mr. Roosevelt are of
| the opinion that it will be necessary for
his credit TO throw the responsibility on
suhordinates and TO say that many things
/ were done without his knowledge This
IS what the Senate would like to have the
| President do, because IL would enable the
enemies OF the administration to point to
this as an example of incapacity.
Panama may all be satisfactorily ex-
planned, and If any can get out of an
awkward position, Mr. Roosevelt can.
But then comes San Domingo What is
he going TO say about that The Do
mlnlcans have placed in an almost ridicu-
| lous light the President of the United
States, who was seeking TO help them
upward and onward In view of the
light OF recent events, all any senator
needs to do to embarrass the President is
TO read on the floor of the Senate his mes
1 sage on the Dominican situation, of
which the type has only been dry since
| December 9Th.
That the administration will have to
meet the issue raised by the action Of the
I President In twice ignoring the Senate in
1 order to take an excursion into foreign
lands is obvious to everybody in Washing.
/ ton. How It is to be met is not entirely
/ clear But the question Of the right of III,
President 10 act without the advice anc
consent Of the Senate is raiscdclearly anc
distinctly
There are other matters which go e
make up the crisis which the President Il
confronting. One of these is the engross
/ ing question of the regulation of railroad
rates. This the President insists on keep
/ ing before the public and before Congress
The agitation has gone so far that there L
now no prospect that Congress will fail C
| pass some sort of bill. The question now L
how can a bill be framed which will satisfy
/ public clamor and at the same time pre-
vent great injury to railroads and to com
merce?
There are men in the Capitol who de
/ clare the whole question is as good as set
| tied. Yet the best information that car
I be obtained is that it is as far from settle
ment as ever. Mr. Roosevelt party !.
split up into three distinct factions -th,
radicals, such as Senator La Toilette oil
| Wisconsin, and Gov. Cummins of Iowa,
the middle ground men. one of whom the
/ President has suddenly become, and the
railroad element.
Mr. Roosevelt has been counting on the
/ support that he could command in the
/ Middle West to force Congress to act. But
he seems to be in a fair way to lose much
Of that support. The natural leaders ir
the railroad fight in the Middle West are
La Toilette and Cummins. II is plain tC
be seen that Mr.. Roosevelt can get no law
which takes the middle ground, with Gov
| Cnmmins making such attacks on the Dol
liver administration bill as he did last Fri
day. and with La Toilette coming TO the
Senate next week to see that there is no
compromise.
This naturally leads 70 the subject Of
the exact popularity which the President
enjoys at this time There are many mer
who declare that his hold on the great
American public is waning This may b,
disputed, Because there is at this time nc
means Of testing IT, But that is what
many persons are saying, and their opin
ion is interesting
Why should the Presidents popularity
be waning is a natural question. Tn,
men who are convinced that the Presi
dent is not the great favorite he was
few months ago say it is due to, perhaps
a dozen different things He was offended
a great many members OF his own organi
zation by the lightness with which he hal
treated his party.
Mr.. Roosevelt is a Republican Presi
dent, but he has never been a strici
party man. No President ever made
an administration a success unless he haC
the support Of his party, Mr. Roosevelt
has set the example to Republican mem
bers of Congress 10 act independently o
the White House by acting independent!
OF his party
Many Northern Republicans have crit
cised his action in making his Southern
trip for the purpose of seeking Demo
cratic support for the measures he wa
urging on Congress. They thought
an excellent thing for the President Il
make a trip to the South for the purpos
Of re-establishing relations, but they ques
toned his motives, and most of the Repub
lican members of Congress who dlitereG
with the President on questions OF cen
tralization, an executive free hand il
San Domingo and other matters are firml,
convinced that the President, on hi
Southern trip, deliberately bid for Demo
cratic votes with which to defeat thos'
Republicans who did not agree with him
Another reason why the popularity o
the President is said to be waning
the action Of Mr. Roosevelt in seekin
to purify his party during the reeen
State and municipal campaigns. In OH
he and Secretary Taft are credited wit
the defeat Of Gov Herrick, and yet Gov
Herick polled 43O,617 votes in Ohio Il
defiance of the attempt made to deiea
him. There are, therefore, about 45O,6i
Republicans in Ohio who not only ardentl.
desired the election of Gov. Hernck, bu
who did not approve the means taken T.
defeat him.
In Pennsylvania, where Mr.. koose
velt's secretary Of state denounced tn
EgaDg' in control as ia corrupt an