The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-06
EsrIMArEs oF RoosrvrI,r.

gone from 1t followed by such diversi- | ty of opinion and judgment as Roose- welt has done. and 1t is but simple
 truth to say that the preponderAnce | of opinion Is unfavorable. In Wash
 ington's case the times and the condi-
 tions were widely different from what they now are. The country at that time was really in a formative condi-
 tion. The great war had been fought,
 independence had been won, and a government had been established but
 the great body of the people had not yet become accustomed to self-Eov-
 ernment, nor had they been able to
 fully accommodate themselves to their
 new privileges and respon abilities.
 And there was party feeling, intoler-
 anee and bitterness then, just as now.
 There were aristocrats and democrats,
 and 1t was the fate of Washington
 to feel the enmity and rancor of both
 sides. The man who, take him all fin
 all, was the greatest President the
 country has had was not able to rive
 satisfaction to both parties. The aris-
 tocrats abused and maligned him be-
 cause they thought he was subservient
 to Democracy and the Democrats vili-
 fled him because in their opinion he
 tried to curry favor with the other side.
 All his great powers were not suf-
 ficient to harmonize these clements and
 he was abused by both bitterly and in
 the main without just cause.
 It Is different in Roosevelt's case,
 for 1t is not political partisanship
 that is most bitter fin condemning him.
 Some of the most fierce and unsparG ing denunciations of his official acts have come from Republicans, while others came from sources not given to sensationalism. The Army and Navy Register, for example, is looked on as the Washington organ of the two branches of the service, printed under the nose of the President, and one
 would not suppose it would judge him harshly. but on Saturday before Roose- velt's retirement that paper had this double-leaded article:
 The retirement of President Roose- velt brings to an end an administration which has been conspicuous by the violence of its acts and the turbulence or us expressions. A calm review of may be identified as such-must credit MT. Roosevelt with the accomplishment Of much that Is worthy of sincere praise and more that has been. in thu result. demoralfzing of service person. mel. MT. Roosevelt's prime fault in his interference with army and navy af- fairs has been the encouragement of of favoritism. He has, however, won admiration for these very qualities, not only from the objects of his partiality. ence ignored. tradition fiouted. and the accustomed order subjected to sudden and sharp rebuff.
 The change in administration will MT. Taft lives entirely up to the ex- pectations of his friends. He cannot very well surpass the retiring Presi- there will be the hope that he will fall far short of that peculiar stand ard.
 That Is the plain unvarnished truth about what may properly be called the rule" of Roosevelt, for in the main he has sought to be ruler instead of Constitutional President. As The Hart. l ford Times says, mo amount of adula- tion from college presidents and edito- rial partisans can offset such a candid and truthful description of the effect of slap-dash. helter-skelter methods on | the army and navy of the United States during the past seven years"
 So much for a newspaper organ of the army and navy, and now we pro- pose to quote from a calm, conserva- tive paper contributed some days ago | to The New York Herald by Professor Henry Wade Rogers, dean of the law | department of Yale University. He refers to the changes which time and bring about concerning the estimate of public men by those who come after them, and then says:
 Of one thing think we can be as- regard MT. Roosevelt as the most law less President we have ever had in the | United States. He has had apparently very little respect for any authority defect of character in any public of ficial, and especially in a President. His criticism of the courts has been and shocking. and he has been apparently entirely oblivious to the fact that the judiciary constitutes a co-or- dinate department of the government, and as such not within his province. To undermine the confidence of the people in the judiciary Is one of the most dangerous and reprehensible and again and again he has assailed the judiciary, and without reason. He deserves. and fin my opinion will re- ceive. the severe censure of history for his lawlessness and his lack of respect for the courts of this country.
 While he is deserving of credit for some things, think that when history sums up the results of his ad 1t will not give him a place among the really great Presi- a remarkable man Is not to be denied. We have had no President like him, and probably will not have for a hun dred years to come.
 Is not that pretty severe, coming as it does from a law professor in one of . our highest institutions? "The most lawless President we have ever had in the United States" is a biting criticism but none the less true. and we be- lfeve the calm sentiment of the coun- try will justify it. He has shown himself lawless both in intention and and nothing that his par tfsans ran saw will hlo+ ont nr hIda