The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-04-28
Two Views OF the Ego at the Nth
Power Of Energy.

Power Of Energy.
character sketch Of Mr. ROOSEVELT
which might have been written by the
President himself, 50 sympathetic and
appreciative ia it in all respects, the New
York Times tentatively or alphabetically
represents him as saying and asking:
An average man e~nergllcd to the nth power
That's not far wrong am an average man. ]
an no genius. Nobody knows that better than ]
know It, | found that out long ego myself I
haven't a hint OF genius M any direction, but II
would be altogether wrong. Il would be quite
absurd to say that ! follow public sentiment and
don't lead It. / do lead It: In any Nent. sometimes
lltadlt. lied It In the Panama action, We should
never have had Panama Without me, nobody else
would have got Panama. Nobody else would have
dared to make the move | made. Nobody In the
wide world. I did that and public sentlmen re.
Sponded and said that | was right, Am leading
in the creation Of interest In the Regular army and
navy. It IL one OF my pets to have the Regular
establishment well thought OF, 10 bring 1t before
the public attention and make the country proud
NJ II. Nobody else would have dared to do that,
Nobody bat me would have sent the feet around
the globe. / led in settling the anthracite strike.
Who was Il proposed all these things Who worked
the country up 10 them The great movement to
which the country Is now aroused for the preser.
walton OF our national resources, am leading or
following In that"
In the same spirit Of tentative or
hypothetical presentation let US suppose
a great English or German or French
p~sychopathist examining the subject Of
the foregoing sketch and pronouncing
as follows upon him simply as a case Of
hyperenergized Ego:
THE startling overemphSsls here OF Self In relS
ton TO dignity OF achievement aud worthiness OF
purpose Is alone enough 70 attract attention and
inspire serious doubts. The case presented recalls
the recent remarks In the Norm AnsntGa RStHW
, OF a distinguished American authority, DR.. nAMIL.
TON, who. however, mentioned no name In discuss.
ing certain symptoms and manifestations.
The petulant and erratlc abuse OF those who
~dlsplesse hin or are lnconyenitnt to him INDUCED
In by Mr.. ROOSEVELT since he nrst came into power
goes far to suggest that he suffers from a disturbed
night Of Ideas. a. well o. Whist the allenlSts call
false interpretations and that as a rule he acts
Without q full Idea Of the consequences Of what he
does. his judgment being morbIdly perverted. The
,erlous part Of It all Is that his language indicates
the existence Of delusve ideas, II not real decisions,
Of conspiracy and persecution. Every one stood
aghast when he announced In his Prorincetown
address that there was a conspiracy OF mSlefactors
n wealth who actuslly made him the direct object
VI attack aud a pcrusal OF bis speeches aud public
documents shows that there Is scarcely a week
when be does not without adduced proof refer to
rOnsplracies and prosecutions OF various kinds. This
dsluslon formed the substance Of a conversation at
a luncheon attended and reported subsequently In
ana unpreJuuiced observer.
" The existence OF such q state OF morbid feeling
must be expressed In what the psychlathsts call
reactions Mr.. RoosEvELr's r~esotIons have been
exceedingly M advised, violent. and after all very
often have been futile, his own opinion, as expressed
In the foregoing sketch. to the contrary notW1th.
standing. HIS declarations OF what he intended
doing have been energetic enough and well adver,
Used. but generally. like those OF every disturbed
subject Of the kind, have ended In nothing.
With all this is the well known g~randlose con,
ditlon whleh nndS vent in the love OF display. tn,
cultivation OF the press agent, intimacy with III,
camera and the use OF the personal pronoun Of III,
trst person singular and plural to a degree thai
should be intensely dlstasteiul TO the people Of
modest and self respecting republic.
These and other manifestations OF overenerglzed
sud self centred activity make UP what on,
medical writer calls the constitutional psychopath
Disorders Of judgment, be says, constitute per
hsps the most essential stigma OF the psychopatt
as well as the most Important one from the socla
point Of view. The psychopath does not Sc,
things in their proper light, hence his singular
notions, his paradoXes, his ridiculous enterprises
Nj. RoosEvELr's kindly impulses are probably
as numerous as the others, He. however, belongs
10 the large class OF those who live In a constant
state Of morbid erethlsm In which the persona
! sense OF ben ttrs is the dominant element Ill
hAtterers say. and he himself believes. tina, h,
.snsrgLes' In a remarkable way and In a remarkable
ieEree. In a sense this Is true"
This tentative and hypothetical opin
iCn is submitted with reservations anC
limitations Of responsibility similar 4
those which hedge the uncommon publ
eaton TO which 1t refers.
Bryan I'm Georgia.
We see in the that IN,