The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-10
RO0SEVELT'S THIRD TERM.
SEN. EDMUNDs' VIEWS.
Does Not Believe In Forcing President to Forsake
 His Plans.

George F. Edmunds is not one of those who believes that President Roosevelt will be compelled to accept another nomination next year. This venerable statesman represented Yer mont in the United States senate for many years; he was member of the electoral commission in 1876; he has long been one of the wheel horses of the republican party. Although he is not active to-day In politics he takes a keen interest in the affairs of the country. MT. Edmunds is spending a few days at the national capital, and when asked by the correspondent of the Transcript to-day what he thought about the third term movement for MT. Roosevelt, he said:
 q do not think Mr. Roosevelt can be persuaded by any amount of what may be termed popular emotion to allow himself to be candidate for the pres idency again and to take third term election, for that is what it is, although some people may say that he has only been elected as president once. Presi- dent Roosevelt is a man of wide and patriotic views; however strongly he may be called upon to carry on the government for another four years I believe he would see what enormously great precedent it would establish if he responded to this demand. By and by the man who might go up for a third term might take majority of the voters of the country with him, and 1t would then require a revolution to get rid of him or else, like some of our southern republics, we would have 10 take him as president for life, just as Diaz is in Mexico the supreme ruler. Diaz is the absolute master of the situation in Mexico and has been for years and years.
 Now my belief is that President Roosevelt cannot be forced into setting a precedent of going beyond two terms. When General Grant, as deservedly popular and as beloved as he was, was put forward by his misguided friends for third term he had so many real friends that they would not let him consent to be renominated for the very reason that I have here suggested. If Grant had been nominated 1 have not the slightest doubt he would have been badly defeated, because the sensible and thinking patriotic people of this country do not wish under any clrcum- stances which can be reasonably ex- pected to happen to have a continuous run of more than two presidential terms. Therefore am sure that Pres ident Roosevelt cannot be bullled into it."
 'iDo you think any republican candl- date can be nominatedias the legatee of the Roosevelt policies?'
 "The general ideas that President Roosevelt has advanced cannot be @ legacy because, broadly speaking, there have been no inventions of prln- ciples by him. The application of them has been carried in some instances too far and the administration has from time to time felt compelled to modify its position, not because the general principles were mistaken, but because they were applying general principles in an incorrect and probably in some case an unconstitutional way So be- lieve that the great masses of the sen sIble people of this countryside com mercial men, the laboring men and all the others-who have become sufficient ly educated in the theory of real llb- erty and real personal rights will find themselves supporting a conservative liberty which can stand any wind from any direction They will be for the principle that the real purpose of peo- ple's rights is that every man shall have the right to be his own master so long as he does not interfere with similar rights of anybody else"