The Boise citizen. (Boise, Idaho) 1906-1910, 1910-06-10
Hero-Worshipers of Our Country
Galveston Daily News. J

ve are citizens democacy and it IS the essence If . l
- that be democratic, that ITS citizenship shall gov
sg and self-deteminlng.
ing That trusm which gets its pernence from the djsoos
% many people in this country suspend judgment as to our DO
Oh res until Colonel Roosevelt shall find time and ircira
ali ., what thinks about them The quotation is from an ar
the North American Review by Stephen S. Wise a raI ~
brilliant aanmens and notable also among those who know him
r the exuberance Of his admiration for Colonel Roosevelt il IS
% therefore, in the spirit of those who would have condemned
% merely because they weary Of hearing him called the
t that Dr. Wise gives this feeling i'm the sDrf Of
~ ho feels that the quality of citizenship suffers co1sder
from AFFECT dependence any however great sapent
This protest not only pertinent but oppoune There are
low hundred thousand not to say few million people in this co
m each enfranched sovereign who will have conviction
% one of number of questions until they shall have heard what
Colonel Roosevelt thinks about them Some Of them have formed
n in varying degrees of specialization but hold them subject
e approval Of Colonel Roosevelt Others have thought
waste Of mental energy form plastic opinion they have
ed accept without question the of Colonel Roosevelt
and 60 the fate of many things the least of them fate Of the
Taft administration await the pronouncement Of returning MIN
rod All of which is DR. Wise says poor exhibition Of demo-
We are and been since the beginning nation Of pretty
us heroworsfpers We have been prone to follow than
think though be said to the credit of instincts that
the part chosen good leaders We have been
one to accept than make opinions But the conditions which
NAV have in the past have changed radically We
better educated than grandater and geatgrandhers
or at least have had schooling Likewise have larger
find Of experience the accruaons of theirs and of and
nernce is as Patrick Henry though lamp which lights the
m WISDOM ought feel capable of choosing
instead following bindy grip of mans tails In adj
on that the of demagogy has been vastly improved which
peous than they used to be Especially within
last FIVE years have witnessed the crunbng of fair
est IDOLS hardly subject to reasoning processes these
eavenen have suggested that either the moral fiber OF
modern less tough than those former days that
the temptations of civilization seductive and irresistible
But above all these why should endeavor walk
like men rather follow like led children the fact that within
years have demanded and gotten much larger
power OF than grandaers and greagrandfae
attempted We longer content for example to
assemble convention merely to shout ignorant approval to what
have deceed in We have primaries The
aopnons has been established And not only do NOM
primaries thus make paramount issues and then insist
platforms shall obeyed Not with this great enlarge
ment Of popular power demanding the initiative and
referendum recall imperative mandate and several other
peients to make rulers rather than the ruled.
Not only what have gained but what aspire to- devoye
upon the duty of praccng the art of thinking own &C
If be worthy of these high authorities indeed
these powers without running our nation auk-
shall surely substitute thought for emotion and learn to
judgment rather than repeat the judgments OF another