The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1907-05-24
ROOsEvELT'S OPINION OF NE.
CHANCES,

Since President Roosevelt's letter
to Mr.. Sherman, in which he denounc-
ed Meyer, Haywood and Debs as 'un-
desirable citizens" he and his satel-
lites have been very busy trying to
prove that he is, in reality, one of the
very best friends labor has. The presi-
dent has written a letter telling how
much he thinks of workingmen, and
his satellites have violated the eight
hour law in their anxiety to make it
appear that the strenuous president
is really a staunch advocate Of un-
ionism and a little the best friend of
the workingman that has ever ira
versed the pike.
Far be it from this humble little
newspaper to doubt the words of the
infallible Theodore! Under no cir
cumstances would it be guilty of even
the appearance of lese majestic. 1t
keeps one so busy lodging the anti
boycott laws, the federal Injunction,
the blacklist and the social ostracism
that one would be foolish to add to
ones woes by counting punishment for
lese majestic. But certainly not even
the most radical partisan of Theodore
Roosevelt can accuse The Wagework-
er of this horrible crime if it merely
quotes the words of President Roose-
welt.
What is the real opinion that Presi-
dent Roosevelt holds of the mechanics
and workingmen who make up such
large proportion of our great cities?
Not President Roosevelt, the polite
ian looking for votes, but President
Roosevelt, the author who sets down
what he thinks? The Wageworker
prefers to judge by what Roosevelt
said of them before he had reason to
Jolly" these mechanics and working
men along for political purposes.
Theodore Roosevelt is the author of
a book entitled Ranch Life and the
Hunting Trail" On page 10 of that
interesting book we find the following
concerning the cowboys:
When drunk ON the villainous whis.
ky of the frontier towns they cut mad
antics, riding their horses into saloons
and firing their pistols right and left
in boisterous ight-heartedness."
They are much better fellows
and pIeasanter companions than the
small farmers and agricultural labor
ers, nor are the mechanics and work
ingmen Of the great cities to be men,
toned in the same BREATH"
And there you have the honest opin-
ion Theodore Roosevelt holds of the
mechanics and workingmen of our
great cities-they are not fit to be
mentioned in the same breath with
the drunken cowboys, riding their
horses into saloons and firing their
pistols right and left in boisterous
light-heartedness.
You sober, steady mechanic, whose
ambition is to be respected, to rear a
family in decency and sobriety and
to be a good citizen-how do you like
being classed as inferior to the drunk
en- cowboy? When you draw your
weeks paycheck, pay your little bills
and take the, rest of your wage home
to feed and dress the little ones yor
| are raising up in the fear of God ant
the love of law and country-how dc
you like to contemplate the fact thai
the president you helped to elect looks
down on you as being inferior to the
| cowboy who is drunk on villainou:
frontier whisky and riding his horse:
into saloons, firing his pistol right ant
left in boisterous light-heartedness?
After you have read Author Roose
velt's opinion of the mechanics ant
workingmen of our great cities arr
you surprised that President Roose
welt classes Meyer, Haywood and Deb
as undesirable citizens?"
What pity that Meyer, Haywood
and Debs, instead of being skille'
workmen, were not drunken cowboy