The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-16

| tiOuaA GnfmitH Anu CAusGS or DlILeT- ness. anu yields easily to the concilia- tory advances of his nefghbors. Then too. the course of Theodore Roosevelt in becoming the exponent of the moral awakening among the people and In formulating their demand that the abuses which had crept in with our enormous development should be stamped out and the business of cor porations. railways. and industrials and on a higher moral plane, found as hearty response in the South as 1t did l in the North
 "The truth is that the South today contains more of the Puritan religious feeling than any other part of the country: and 1t responded to the Roose.
 welt policies with as much emphasis and fervor as there was anywhere in the union.
 "The result of all this is to promote independence of thought and independ-
 ence of personal action and tolerance of
 both in the South. and no matter what
 ones political proclivities are. this re-
 suit he must accept, if . reasonable
 man. as one devoutiy to be wished for.
 T am . Republican. but concede
 fully the great advantage to the coun- | try of having a Democratic Party sufii- ciently powerful at times to win the | the Republican Party when in control | in fear of possible or. probable de- l feat.
 And so in the South no one can deny I the advantage that will arise in local l and State governments when there Is a substantial and intelligent minority which may become a successful major | ity in punishment of the abuses that are | likely to grow out of long continued and undispdted control of one party.
 Added to that. the uncertainty which may attend the result of national elect I Ions in a State is certain to give 1t ad- ditional importance in the councils of the Nation.
 T have not come down here for po- | litical purposes. and am not here to preach political propaganda, nor If were would expect a political revoiu. ton in any of the States of the South :.
 A political change, if 1t comes, In my
 Judgment must come by a continuance of the present movement. to-wit: the development of independence of politi- l cal thought and action on the part of a comparatively small minority, which
 shall slowly attain the proportions of
 a respectable opposition in each State
 to the controlling party.
 "The South and the Southern people are conservative and they don't change in mercurial way. With them tradt- tions are respected and are strong mo- tives of action And If one were affect ed by purely partisan motives, he must regard the effort to create a successful opposition in the South to present con.
 trolling party in such e way as to secure electoral votes in a National campaign as a waste of strength and energy. Occasionally Member of Con. Eress may be secured. but this Is not enough to warrant the attention that ought to be paid to encouraging the
 movement for political Independence and action in the South. The motive for that must be the earnest desire of all patriotic men to make parties non- sectional and to unite and knit more bloody war once divided. but which now ought to be and certainly will be in the progress of events, one in feei- ing, sympathy and aspiration.
 A Word To Critics.
 T observe that among some promi. nent Member of Congress there Is a dis. position to charge me with an attempt to win the South over to Republics nism and a somewhat contemptuous express sion of opinion that this Is utterly irn- possible. To them I would say that I am not hopeful of winning the South over as they say, but that the South has succeeded in winning me. For never have I had a more cordial reception in any part of the country or of tine world than during my present visit to Geor- gia, and as it Is entirely without re- sponsibility for making Georgia differ entity politically from what she is, and as am on vacation in which have little to do but enjoy myself and make a cabinet am not in the slightest de- gree worried over the prophecies of failure which see occasionally in in-
 terviews with prominent Southerners and this is because there is no room for failure in my visit to this country.
 T came here for rest and recreation and have had both and I have found warm and cordial reception and patriot ic respect for the of1ce into which I am soon to be inducted. Indeed. while Mir. Roosevelt Is 1aboring in Washington under the responsibilities of his great office am enjoying the respect, atten- ton and hospitality that patriotic Americans extend to the office without at present carrying it's burdens.
 "A walk of four miles around eigh- teen holes of golf is all that need to keep the Presidential body in good condition, whereas Mir Roosevelt in his anxious desire to nerve the army up to what it's members should be able to do under stress must ride ninety miles in fourteen or fifteen hours.
 ''If my coming had been partisan, no such meeting as this tonight would have been possible, and So I may say of all the receptions and expressions of good will and welcome that have received from point to point through out this South ern country. The very success of my trip, the very reason why 1t gives me so much satisfaction is the pronounced non-partisan char acter of the welcome. which has been so kindly extended to me.
 Nov, If this indirecly makes, not | for a partisan advantage, but for a of the movement in favor | of independence of speech and action | and political tolerance, its result Is one | that all citizens of whatever political | party must rejoice to have brought | about.
 Attitude Toward SOuth.
 The relation of the national ad- to a section like this, in | the distant past has been that al- most of an alien government to a colony. The direct local effect of a national administration upon the South Is chiefly through its local officials, appointed and exercising their func- lions through the section, and, there- fore, the expression of the administra- ton towards the Southern people | takes its color in the character of tn ose officials. and therefore, the adminls- ration may be properly held account lble and its policies determined by the fitness and standing of he men appointed to represent it in he districts and States of the section.
 II realize, therefore, that in express 'ions of sympathy with the South, and m earnest desire to bring 1t closer to nx- Al l