The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-10-14
A "ME TOO" CANDIDATE.
The Pitiablc Plight of ROoscvclt's
Presidential Nominee.

AheouOIe INooSeNelt 10 MS cOuntrymen
at this time, should establish, and in
our opinion it has already established.
In the minds Of thoughtful people, a
convincing argument in favor of
change Of parties in the national gov
ernment.
If we are to maintain the spirit Of
republican institutions, Overwhelming
defeat and prompt rebuke must fol-
low so great a desecration of the self
governing principle, to say nothing
about so wanton a degradation of the
Presidential dignity.
Obviously the President possesses
the sense neither Of justice nor pro-
priety. The duel between him and
the Democratic nominee for President
proves nothing except that Mr.. Roose-
Welt seeks to make himself appear to
the wage earners" more Bryanized
than Bryan, whilst secretly employ
ing the agencies Of unscrupulous pow
er and the resources Of corrupting, If
not Of predatory wealth, to cheat
public opinion and to coerce results.
He was chosen chief magistrate to
serve the nation and all the people
When in effect he stigmatizes half the
people as menacing the national in
terest he in effect proclaims himself
a recreant to his oath Of office. Never
before was such an aAfront put upon
a free constituency.
Only the rage of a spoiled child.
the fury of baffled and foolish boy.
could account for the exhibitions
which for the moment are confined to
the White House, but which will per-
sistently be placed on wheels and
trolled about from one end of the
land to the other. Not a despot upon
the real or the mimic scene ever show
ed himself more lost to self-repres-
sion. less able to brook opposition.
Having at the outset exhausted the
unworthy agencies at his command to
force upon his party the nomination
OF Judge Taft he forgets that Judge
Taft is a candidate. With the whoop
OF an Indian chief he rushes to the
front Of the battle. With q savage
wave OF the hand he brushes his late
Secretary rudely aside and takes per-
sonal leadership upon the firing line.
Like Macbeth in the final act-like
Richard upon Salisbury plain-he
strikes out blindly. With Gloster he
beholds the darkling Of the sun and
divines the cause. With the guilty
Scot he is told that Birnam Wood
doth come to Dunsinane and he shouts
to Hitchcock. the messenger:
Liar and Slave!
II thou speakest false
Upon the next tree shalt thou hang
alive,
Till famine sling thee; If thy speech
be sooth,
care not IL thou dost for me as
much"
Wherefore? Why, simply despera-
ton and despair-and knowledge that
after all he has said and done--tne
:mmolation Of friends beneath the
steam roller and the sacrifice Of rep
utation In the abandonment Of a life
time OF civil service reform pledges
the people will not permit him to
name his successor: will not permit
him to lay the precedent for a dynas-
ty; will not lie down on their be-
lies and let the pig Stick" be flour
ished over them; that they are yet
free to choose their own rulers and
will not abdicate their power; in
short. that Taft, his legatee, is beaten
and that Bryan will be the next Pres
ident Of the United States.
To his perturbed mind the though.
Is exasperating. He cannot digest H..
not even realize it. His undiscjplined
and immature temperament can to-
crate no let to its desires, no hindrance
to its will. The man who gainsays
him becomes at once a liar and q
scoundrel. whether he be Governor Of
a State-in his vocabulary a province
or Senator in Congress. or a pri-
vate citizen lifting up his voice in
proper remonstrance. The God he
adores is Power. The shrine where
he worships is upheld by the money
chests of the preferred classes. His
:nen-at-arms are Messrs. Knockdown,
Dragout & Company, Of the High
Tariff League, the Sugar Ring, the
Steel Plate Industry and the Powder
Trust.