The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-01-27

PRESIDENT and Congress Is Doubtless q
oeep mystery to the average. incentive
c''izen. He cannot understand th,.
neat on either side. That congress had
some provocation, he perceives. but
excuse FOR the great excitement and
vast indignation. it is not easy for him
TO md. The puzzlement Of the gen.
| eral mind Is not unlike that which an
american would have who had Just
come home after having been in The
Arctic regions for the past four years.
He would have left Mr.. Roosevel. tho
nero and idol; he would have found
MIN the subject Of attack and denun-
ciation. Such an American, If a sensible
man, would know that this strange re-
Versal, this effect detective, comes by
cause, and would set himself to dis
covering the cause. He would demand
an explanation which would be, as
Montaigne says not more difficult OF
belief than the thing to be explain
| ed.
| The true account Of the controversy
and the bitterness goes far back. This
explosion is not a matter of a day or
week. 1t was not a single unguard-
ed utterance Of the President that
created all this animosity against him.
His rash language let 1t loose, but did
not cause it. The feeling of antagon-
ism and hostility had long been gather
Ing In Congress. If the Presidents
message had been all, the affair could
easily have been accommodated. So
Mr. Roosevelt evidently thought. He
expected the explanatory message 10
be accepted as satisfactory. But the
long accumulation of dislike and en-
nifty was seeking a vent, and it took
this one. 1t was as IL Congress had
been waiting for years for the Lord to
deliver Philistine into their hands
and would not let go the opportunity
to rise and smile.
All this however, only throws US
back on the question why Congress
should have been heaping up so in
tense hatred Of the President. Was
ut due to jealousy Of his popularity? :?
Was 1t envy of his fame? Was 1t even
resentment at his dictatorial manners
None Of these things. The truth Of
the matter 1t is a delicate thing to
state, but no one who has an acquain-
tance with congressman. no one who
knows Washington can have any
doubt what that truth is. 1t is
in word. that Congress does not be-
iieve in President Roosevelt's moral
sincerity. It thinks him hypocritical.
He has lectured 1t and the country
on truthfulness. yet nine out OF ten
Congressman believe Mr.. Roosevelt
himself to be habitually untruthful.
He has posed as champion OF fair
play. yet Congressman believe him
to fight foul. They picture him az
living in. and delighting in. an at
mosphere of suspicion, intrigue and
calumny. His talk Of the square deal
they scoff at as sheer pretence. They
say that he protects favorites, such as
Paul Morton and the Steel Corpora
ton while furiously prosecuting his
enemies, or those whom he thinks he
can make political capital by attack
ing. In short, congress is thorough,
convinced that all the supreme moral
exhortation which 1t has had from
President Roosevelt, has come from q
man who allows in himself the thing
he condemns in others.
Mind, We do not say that Congress
Is right about it. We only state wha,
1t believes to be true. Congressman may
be deceived; but there can be nc
question that this Is what they hon.
estly think about the president. From
their nearby view for years, from
their comparing notes together from
their hearing Mr.. Roosevelt's words
and watching his acts, they have come
to the opinion we have described. And
when they had good chance to ex-
press by formal action their conviction
OF the presidents insincerity, they
could not stay their hands. This, we
believe, Is rational explanation, and
the only complete explanation, Of the
action of the house in arraigning the
president for assertions "unfounded in
fact" 1t was cherished resentment
at hollow assumptions of higher vir-
tue, expressing itself in a verdict %
disbelief in the existence OF even the
lower virtue Of speaking the truth. On
no other theory can We account for