The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-09
IS HE A DODGERf

AS The Brooklyn Eagle, sees it, President Roosevelt insists that no matter what he Is represented as say ing, he must not be understood as hav- ing said it, unless he. himself, by his own hand or mouth, says that he said it.. This enables him to allow or to adopt anything imputed to him, that goes" and to repudiate everything whatever, others understand him to have said--in case it does not go. This propensity of the president to disavow his own words has been noted or various occasions. We might take a charitable view of this weakness and attribute 1t entirely to forgetful- ness, but even that excuse is not cred itable tc him, for a man who occu- pies the position he does should exer- else more judgment and not make statements in direct language at one time and deny, them at another. Such habit is likely to cause the public to believe that he is irresponsible and unreliable.
 One of the strange things about Roosevelt's mind or disposition is the contradictions exhibited by him re- garding public or quasi public mat ters. He will take position or lay down a proposition in such positive language that one not well posted as to his strange peculiarities in this respect would think that nothing could move him, and we can imagine him saying with James Fitz-JameS we think It was:-
 Come one. come all! This rock shall
 fly
 From it's firm base as soon as l."
 but it would not be safe assump- ton that he will not fly as soon as he sees that his position is unpopular. And the most contradictory feature of 1t all is that he will sometimes take a weak and untenable position and stick tc 1t like a bulldog The Eagle says: ft
 An instance is furnished in the news of today. The World declares tbat the President claims for the Fed kral government. jurisdiction. to degree. of the school system of Cali fSrniS and ip San prahGisSS; Hs S,aRei makes legislation. certain public lands were given by Congress to California for educational purposes. So were cer- other States for such purposes. Those purposes have been carried out, in some cases by the erection of school cases by selling the land to rrivate in- terests and devotine the price to the educational funds of the State, or of some division of the State. a city. or a county or a township.
 The proposition that by parting with land It could not utilize but which the State could and did utilize. the Federal government still retains the least. strange The idea attr'b- ufed to MT. Roosevelt that our gov ernment gives gifts with string cn them. and can snatch them back by notice, It is so novel that it Is ccnl- dentl,' attrihrted to Mr. Roosevelt as the fountain head of novelty in the wo-ld It is however, so contrary pursued bv the nation and the States thst Mir; Roosevelt will be able 10 re- noun"e It. or tc denHunce, 1t. the mo or illeSal-or even unpopular.
 Who but Roosevelt would ever think of trying to hold te such an absurd position as this? The State of Ala bama received from the government many thousand acres of lands for educational purposes and has sold most of them and aprlied the money as was intended. Win any sane or unBreJudiced person maintain that the donation Of these lands gives to the Federal government any control over the schools of our State? If that theory is allowable then Con- gress or the President would have the right to order the schools of Alabama thrown open to white and black chill dren without any discrimination. We suppose the most ardent and loyal ad- herent of Roosevelt will hardly un- dertake to maintain that position. vet 1t is a fair and logical deduction from his reasoning on the California mat ter. One more quotation from The Eagle
 Congress will continue to be the law making power. The Senate will con tinue to be the treaty confirming and the treaty-rejecting power The States will continue to control their own edu. eational provisions and facilities Cali fornia as one of the States may m6Hi-