The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-08-28
ONE VIEW OF ROOSEVELT.
New York Evening Post Calls Him
SeIf-seekinE BraGEart.

Self-seekinE Braggart.
From the New York Evening Post
There is undeniably an amusing side to
Mr.. Roosevelt's wayslde oratory. II re-
calls the political speaker preserved in
the amber Of James Whitcomb Riley's'
verse. who
Hclt the hammer upa ards from a uann' in the dust.
And cut loose on monopoly, and cussed and cnssed
and cussed.
But laughter cannot help passing into
anger and a sense Of gross outrage. when
the real significance Of Mr.. Roosevelrs
car-end harangues is fully taken in. For
here Is a private citizen assuming that he
has supreme political power. Here is an
ex-President showing aside the actual
President as II he were a truckman
Here Is a man who forever chatters about
the square deal yet who treats his own
friend and the chief OF his own party with
absolute unfairness. pushes himself for
ward as the only true fountain OF justice.
announces what L viii do" Just AS
though his being elected President next
time were already settled, and bears him
self throughout as a peculiarly repellent
combination or demagogue and dictator
Such wild and whirling words as Mr..
Roosevelt uttered are a curse 20 public
life. They arouse passion without direct
ing H. They give no one a clear idea Of
what the speaker meant, except that he
sought TO inflame the crowd and make
mischief
He Eliminates against crooked men. He
Is going 10 "cinch" the crooks.
- a. ~
mean?
Even Mr.. Roosevelt cannot intend Us 70
understand that he will be detective, po-
lice. magistrate. jury. jailer, all in one,
and will get after every burglar and swim
dler in the land No; his crooks are po-
utical crooks.
What he wants the crowd 70 understand
is that he is with them in their present
wrath against men who go into politics
70 make money. or who advance by politi-
cal corruption. or who are notorious as
INSCRIPTIONS machine politicians.
Yet this champion Of purity, this roarer
for political virtue, is the man who was
for years. when in public life. hand in
glove with the worst political corruption
lists OF his day. who toadied 70 Plat, who
praised Quay, who paid court to Hanna;
under him as President. Aldrich rose 20
the height OF his power, always on good
terms with Roosevelt: IL was Roosevelt
who. In 1906, wrote an open letter urging
the reelection OF Speaker Cannon. against
whom mutterings had then begun to rise;
it was Roosevelt who asked Hartman TO
come 10 the White House secretly, who
took his money 70 buy votes in New York,
and who afterward wrote 10 My Dear
Sherman"-yes. the same SYSTEMATICALLY
ing the capitalist 70 whom he had previ-
/ ously written saying: You and are
practical men"
II Roosevelt is the great cincher OF
crooks, why didn't he cinch them when
he was shaking hands with them?
II is no pleasant duty 10 say these
things Of Mr.. Roosevelt We had hoped
that time and reflection had sobered him;
and that his Western speeches would
show him capable OF taking an evelated
political leadership. But whatever he may
do in his set addresses. II is plain that he
means en- route 10 stir the popular heart
! by appeals In his very worst vein. His
leaping back into his old role is both in
decent and dangerous. II is indecent be
cause. in utter disregard Of all propriety
and OF personal and political fair play, he
rushes upon the next Presidency as If II
were already his. and boasts OF The great
things he is going TO do; It Is dangerous
because the more the mob yells approval
Of his reckless speech. the more reckless
I It will become. It is evident that there
are troublous times ahead Of the sober
and steady people Of this country in deal.
/ ing with this man who came back q
help solve our problems" and is pro-
ceeding to do II by making them more
difficult than before There is nothing &c
do but to face him squarely and tell the
truth about him The taste OF his quality
which he gave recently will no doubt
delight the crowd. but it leaves sensible
and patriotic citizens aghast. They ar,
startled by the thought that we may fal
/ into the hands OF this braggart in whom
self-seeking is so finely blended viii
| hypocrisy.