The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-25
orpoRrUNrrY AND DUTY.

senator fthyneT, oL MhFyiauus m = recent speech said: "The trouble with the President is that he regards himser as vested with unlimited exe- cutive power under the Constitution" Truer indictment was never returned by a jury. It matters little whether it is the mans natural disposition, or whether 1t is an arrogance swollen by what 1t has fed on. or whether he has been fattened and fawned on until he is so puffed up with conceit that he thinks himself superior to consti- tuition, law and precedent. or wheth- CT 1t be combination of all of these, the result is the same; he is the most dangerous man who ever held the of- flee of President of these United States.
 This advance towards autocracy and one-fnan government has been sone- thing like evolution; insidious at times. open and defiant at others. Its progress has been slow in some cases, rapid in others, but always 1t has advanced. and always 1t has be- come. more dangerous to the liberties of the people and to the very existence of free government. The words Of Senator Rayner were not those of an aiarmist or a demagogue; they were words of truth and soberness: the words of man who observes and understands what he sees. Roose- welt is in many respects a dangerous man for a position which. above all others. should be filled by a well bal anced man. a strict constructionist and one who does not allow personal ambitions and love of power to blind him to the true duties and restraints of an, American President.
 Rarely. if ever. has there been time when Duty and Opportunity were so plainly confronting and beck oning the Democracy than at present Rare ly, if ever, has there been a time when it was more clearly the duty of a great party to lay aside all dissen- itself resolutely to the patriotic task of rescuing the government from it's enemies. and we use this language ad- visedly and without the least inten- tion of being sensational. For the government of the fathers is in the hands of its enemies, and all observ- ant citizens know 1t, whether they &C., knowledge 1t or not. If Roosevelt himself is not nominated at Chicago all the indications point to the selec- tion of a man of his own choice and of his own kind. It is possible, of course. that a man may be nominated who, if elected, will repudiate the Roosevelt policies and practices and endeavor to bring the ship of State back to its old moorings, but it is not at all likely that one of that kind can secure the nomination.
 And the hope that q sane, conser- vative and patriotic man may be nom- mated by the Republicans is not suf- ficiently good ground to justify De- mocratic indifference or dissensions. If the Democrats at Denver can lay aside personal partialities and preju- dices forget strife and bitterness and unite on sound man and "a 'sound Democratic platform they can win. The name and locality of the man are not of such transcendant import ance that they should be allowed to stand in the way of harmony and unity. What is wanted is a candid ate and a platform upon which De- mocrats of all sections of the country can unite. and for whom all will work for the good-not only of the Demo- cratic party. but for the much higher object of preserving the government and saving it from the spoilers. We do not know that such an outcome of the convention is possible, but if 1t is there can be no excuse for neglect ing 1t.