Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-06-11

When Theodore Roosevelt reaches New
York next week he will be accorded a
welcome such as has been given to few
moral men. 1t has been with the greatest /
difficulty that the committee has kept
the demonstration within the limits inn
posed by the physical conditions of New
York City, the second largest town on
earth. MT Roosevelt will set foot on the
soil OF his native land to be greeted by the
cheers Of hundreds of thousands of his
fellow countrymen who desire him TO be-
come a candidate for president in 1912.
Hundreds of thousands who do not desire
him to be a candidate will admit that he
can have the presidency again for the
asking Other hundreds OF thousands say
he cannot, even If he will
General L. S. Grant came home from a
trip around the world and was greeted
with a third-term boom. He was defeated
in tho republican national convention of
1880 in spite of the fact that his followers
were captained by the superb Conkling
and in spite of the fact that the Immortal
SO6' stood faithful to the end
Admiral George Dewey came home from
the victorious battle of Manila Bay and
was greeted as few Roman conquerors
were greeted. He listened to the buzzng
of the presidential bee and, with the speed
of a Lucifer, fell to place Of comparative
obscurity.
William Jennings Bryan returned from
trip around the world and was greeted
at New York by the ever enthusiastic
legions of the democratic party with con-
fident predictions that he would be nomi-
mated the third time for president and
would be elected. He was nominated,
6,,t ola hali
that his defeat was due In some measure
to the speech which he made at Madison
Square garden in acknowledging his home
coming reception
william Howard Taft came home from
trip around the world. undertaken under
orders from President Roosevelt when
Taft already was a candidate for the
presidency. There was no general popular
reception, but Mr.. Taft found upon reach
ing Washington that sappers and miners
had taken advantage Of his absence to try
to explode his boom. Mr.. Taft made some
very positive statements and did some
very positive things that Sunday. Among
the results may be mentioned the admitted
/ facts that Mr.. Taft is now president of the
| United States, and Mr.. George B. Cortel-
| you is in private life. But the Taft home-
| coming was not the occasion of a popular
| demonstration.
The record of General Grant, Admiral
Dewey and Mr.. Bryan goes to prove that
| 1t is a highly dangerous thing to subject
| presidential boom to the hazards of
travel in foreign lands and then bring it
home to be the object of hip-hip-hurrah
mass meeting at the steamer docks. No
| great presidential boom has yet survived
| this treatment.
1 te ,ytxr 10 mar N ybot
is in the mind of Theodore Roosevelt, it
cannot be said what he thinks of his third
term boom. Yet everybody admits that
| there is such thing and that 1t has it's
roots in the soil of the whole country.
| WIN 1t survive the heroic experience Of a
great homecoming? Or will it go the
way of the booms attached to the trains
of Grant, Dewey and Bryan?
! The Grant third-terms boom was
launched in the great enthusiasm OF his
welcome home at San Francisco. 1t was
wrecked on the rock of precedent-George
Washington refused third term and no
man has been able to overcome the force
of that declination, Mr.. Roosevelt, If he
is again elected, will have what is prac-
tically third term, although 1t will be
what Senator Bourne calls a second
| elective term"
| The Dewey boom was born in desperation
OF the defeated and divided democratic
party. 1t died of too much cuddling. The
moment the gallant admiral admitted that
he entertained the notion, that moment the
boom collapsed. Wise politicians now say
that the only possible way to kill the
Roosevelt boom is for the colonel himself
to appear to be over-anxious. There is
nothing in his past record to indicate that
Roosevelt is capable of such gross tao
teal error.
The Bryan third nomination boom was
born the day Alton B. Parker was defeated
for president and reached high-tide when
he was given the third nomination at Dem
yer In 1905 His home coming and his Madi-
son square garden speech in 1906 affected
rather his chances for election than his
chances for nomination. The explosion of
! the Bryan boom is harder to account for
then the others, since Mr.. Bryan had ex-
pressed his opinion about government