The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-04-21

HC dllIllS IC4IoNlllS IS CIpptQ non
the New Orleans States OF recent date
and impaleS the erratic Georgian in de
rision from which he can not extricatt
himself with credit. The States SAYS:
No doubt that wing OF the Republi-
can party which stands behind Mr.
Roosevelt was astoniShed and gratifiet
at the suggestion Of Mr.. John Temple
Graves that the Democratic party should
fall in behind them and make Mr.
RoOsevelts nomination unanimous This
suggestion was made at banquet given
by the Democrats of Chattanooga, Ten
neSSee, in honor OF Mr. BRYAN, and the
speaker went 50 far as to suggest that
it would be the proper thing for Mr.
Bryan himself to place the name OF
Theodore Roosevelt before the National
Democratic Convention for nomination
OF all the absurd and wild theories
that have ever been proposed with re-
gard to Democratic policies this unques-
tlonably caps the climax. Up to quite
recently Mr.. Graves has been a most en-
thusastic Hearst partisan, hence it
would have been more in keeping with
the proprieties had he suggested his bril-
liant scheme TO that gentleman and had
him place Mr.. Roosevelt in nomination
provided Mr.. Hearst could have
gained access as a delegate to the floor
OF the Democratic conention.
But Mr., Graves is nothing if not
spectacular. Hence he mistook BAN
quet hall for party convention, and dis
tl1rbed the amenities of the occasion by
being generous at MIR. Bryan's expense
1t IS not necessary to discuss here the
grave breach of decorum involved in
such suggestion at such a time and IN
such place and presence. This will
suggest itself to all wellbred people
Even had the suggestion been reasonable
and sound consideration for the occa-
sion, for the feelings of the hosts and
for the distinguished guest whom they
had gathered to honor would have for
hidden its utterance there.
But the suggestion is neither sound
nor reasonable. On the contrary, it is in
the last degree absurd and reasonable
Outside OF very few principles which
Mr.. Roosevelt has cribbed bodily from
the Democratic party and from the poll
cies proposed by Mr.. Bryan himself,
Mr.. Roosevelt stands for just exactly
what the Democratic party opposes. He
has been vigorous and aggressive above
his fellows in the Republican party, it
must be admitted, but what has been
the net result of it all? The Democratic
Senators put through the rate regulation
law for him, and at the last moment he
yielded to- the demands of the corpora
ton Senators on the court review prop
ositlon, hoping thereby to give the
credit for the passage of the law to the
Republican party. He denounced the
corporation plunderers, and called Knox
and Root, past masters in the art of or
ganzlng predatory corporations. into his
Cabinet. He put the railroads on the
grill and wanted to get some of the rail-
road officials i'll prison, but instead,
Morton, who pleaded guilty to violation
of the law, broke into the Cabinet. Har
riman, whom he has recently denounced
III unmeasured terms, he called to Wash
ington and took into his confidence so
thoroughly that the railroad magnate re-
turned to New York and Immediately
raised a corruption fund of $25oooo for
the national campaign committee. He
acted as peacemaker between Japan and
Russia, for which. he is entitled to high
praise, but he followed this up by alb
jectly surrendering to the absurd de
mands of Japan in the matter of the
California school question and by bru
tally flourishing the big stick over the
head of sovereign State
He and Secretary Root stand for
in its most dangerous
forms, and the suggestion that the Dem
ocratic party should, even by implication,
endorse such a proposition, is to suggest
that the party holds no principle sacred,
and has no policies that can not be re
versed when the scent of the tlesh-pots
greets its nostrils We mean no per-
sonal reflection when we assert that Mr.
Graves suggestion would involve an act
Of cowardice on the part of the Demo-
cratic party that would make it deserv-
edly contemplate and odious in the eyes
OF self-respecting men. 1t is bastard
that the party that stands for
truth and right should basely st1rren-
der, merely because it has failed to win
offices, although it has been strong
enough to force upon all unwilling oppo-
sition party a few of its policies. Thus,
the cowardice of the Republican party in
to a few Democratic de-
mands, through fear of defeat, is urged
as a reason why the Democratic party
Il.