The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-08-21
THE WEEKLY JOURNAL, Yssued Thursday. One Dollar a Year.
RoosErELr AT PRoT10cE1oWN.

After, for him, a prolonged summer silence, President Roosevelt stepped from the deck of the Mayhower yes terday to historic ground to again preach his never neglected doctrine of "the square deal" as 1t reveals itself to his mind. Those who looked to his address for a sign of weakening in the battle with dishonesty managed wealth will look again and in vain There is less lourishing of the big stick, fewer of the strenuous adjectives with which he has been in the habit of adorning his public speeches, but no lack of de- termination to continue in the task of srbduing the evil-minded. He stands pal,
 The keynote to his address will be found in these sentences: 'The Puri- tan tanned the wilderness and built up a free government on stump-dotted clearings amid the primeval forest. His descendants must try to shape the life of our complex industrial civilization by new devices, by new methods, so as to achieve in the end the same re- suits of justice and fair dealing to all President Roosevelt sees in the Puritan the original of his strenuous model. He was neither "Laodicean" nor fol- lower of the laissez-faire theory. He was up and doing and If there. was no other way to secure conformity with the rule of right, then he smote down the transgressor with the iron of his wrath" If there was any doubt in the minds of his audience after that burst of impassioned oratory where his treat ment and analysis of the Puritan were to take him it must have been very queer audience. "The spirit of the Pur- itan," says the President, twas spir- t which never shrank from regulation Of conduct if such regulation was necessary for the public veal; and this is the spirit which we must show to- day whenever necessary" That in brief was his introduction to another, but not new statement of the purpose of the government in prosecuting crim- inals, whether rich or poor, without malice or discrimination His views of to-day are exactly those he held the day before and the views he intends to hold until the termination of his of- ficial career returns him to private life Those who expected anything else need now to adjust themselves to the inevi- table
 Some people may differ as to Presi- dent Roosevelt's understanding of the Puritan character, especially as re- gards It's devotion to ideals There are many who contend that the Puritan was not such dull, unperceiving per- son after all nor one whose eyes were always closed to the main chance But be that as it may the Presidents un- derstanding of him, if It is the correct one, certainly justifies him in his relentless batting of the evil act ing corporation. The surprising thing is that anyone should have supposed that the President was ready to quit the game at this stage of it and to appease the wrath of the men of Wall street by promising not to longer dis turb their peace of mind, If he has heard that he was in any way con- nected with the disturbances in the stock market or that he Is contribut- ing largely to a greater industrial dis turhance he gives no sign of it. He refers the people to the industrial con dition of the world for which he could not possibly be held responsible. He measures the distance which separates us from the Puritan as direction to him to create and enforce new meth ods of control. Like Secretary Taft he says that there is nothing in his conduct which orderly and law-abid- ing business men have to fear The man, the industry and the corporation which obey the law and seek only their prosperity by fair and just means are as safe as if they were protected by impenetrable walls. This he has told the country over and over again until it is a mystery that his attitude is not understood and no longer question ed. Even though the stage heavens fall while he stands erect he will go on fighting, and so far as he is con- cerned he will do all in his power to see that the administration which fol- lows his will be consecrated to a like resoluteness of purpose.
 It is on the whole we'll that Presi- dent Roosevelt has again expressed himself as he has, Had he modified