Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1911-05-01
ROOSEVELT IS
NOT CANDIDATE
Friends Will Do Him Injus-
tice if They Try to Make
Him Such
WAS FORCED In FIGHT
Desired Quiet, But Had to
Aid in Fight for Popular
Government
WAS FORCED IN FIGHT

The Saturday Evening Post OF last
week contains an interview with
Theodore Roosevelt written by Henry
Beach Needham, entitled, Where
Roosevelt Stands Today A few of
its best parts are given below
81 am not candidate for the presi-
dency. And my real friends will do
me a cruel injustice if they seek to
make me such.
"Of the ten hundred and fifteen
delegates at the Saratoga convention
perhaps not more than fifteen. cen
tainly less than one hundred, We're
real supporters of mine.
"Most of the delegates did not
agree with me on the tariff question
and distrusted me as being too radi
cal in other matters, but they wish
ed to fight for honesty and popular
government and against boss rule
They knew that they could win only
under my leadership, but they made
no secret that they We're against me
personally.
No Power Over Them.
"Take the committee on resolutions.
In the first draft of the platform there
was a mild tribute to me. which vel
coined me back to public life as the
exponent of honesty, but the commit
tee finally struck this out-a majority
wouldn't stand for it. They were de-
termined to keep out of the platform
any allusiOn to me personally. This
by itself shows the utter absurdity
of thinking | could influence them on
the tariff
81 hadn't it in my power, as they
knew, to reward human being or to
punish a human being. Not one man
who voted against me at Saratoga had
anything to fear from me for so do
ing; not one man who voted for me
at Saratoga had anything to expect
from me for his support. | got out
of that convention every ounce of
progressive action that it was human
ly possible to get out of it.
Gov. Hughes and his supporters
were entirely responsible for my ap-
pearance at Saratoga. | didn't get
them into the fight. They were in
the fight. All I did was to try to help
them out in fight in which they
were right. AS long as they were in
it l couldn't stay out.
when | got back from Europe /
wanted to go home and be quiet. |
ulUu WduJ " IIllN III pOiitlCo. Dut
was impOrtuned on every hand-by
the insurgents of the West and by the
progressives of my own state-tO help
along the movement for honesty in
high places in the political and finan-
.cial world 1t seemed to me that 1t
was my duty to try to help them in
the fight for popular government,
without any regard to what the effect
10
see how | could keep out of the fight
and retain my self-respect, so | went
into it.
I'm my judgment the constitution
should be so amended as to provide
for the direct election of United States
senators by the people. | emphatical-
ly believe in that change Those op-
posing such an amendment are mere
iy expressing the same fear that NOV
ed the trainers of the constitution
to commit the election of president
to the electoral college.
"COmparatively short experience
convinced the nation that the presi-
dent should be voted for directly by
the people and although the form of
the electoral college has been retain
ed. the electors have no function eX-
cept to ratify the popular verdict.
And if it should be thought necessary,
even this superfuous machinery could
with advantage be abolished,
81 believe, also. that there should
be direct election of delegates to ma
tional conventions"
Mr. Needham quotes Col. Roose-
velt's Rough Rider, John c. Greenway.
as saying:
n
is to be shot on the field of battle. y