The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-18
ROOSEVELT PROFITS BY RECENT ATTACK Strong Wave of Sympa- thetic Feeling Evident PAST IS FORGOTTEN. Friends Are Taking Every Advantage of Situation to Arouse as Much
 Sympathy as Possible
 for Big Moose
nx q. E. STEWART

Washington, october It.-Noptcidij-
 The one and only topic of conversation
 in the cafes, clubs, hotel Hobbies and other public gathering places is the at tempted assassination of ex-President
 Roosevelt and the probable effects it
 will have on his campaign.
 The American people love fair play and their sympathies naturally turn to man occupying the present attitude of the
 bull moose candidate, and his friends are taking advantage of the unfortunate attempt upon his life by murderous
 hinatic, by arousing this sympathy as
 much as possible.
 Political differences are lost sight of in
 face of the fact that once more the hand
 of the assassin has been laid upon a pub
 lie man. People discuss it not in the
 light of an assault upon Theodore Roose-
 velt the citizen and candidate. but upon Theodors Roosevelt the former President
 and beloved by large section of the
 American people.
 Great tirongs stood around the bulle- tin boards in Washington awaiting news from the bedside of Colonel Roosevelt. The burden of opinion is that the emo-
 lional American people will undergo a re- vulsion Of feeling in his favor, and that
 many a man at present undetermined in
 mind as to how he will vote will be swaycd by sympathy to cast his ballot for Roosevelt.
 Everything said by Roosevelt about others is forgotten and only the harsh things said of him are recalled. It is said
 that Colonel Roosevelt only the day be- fore he was shot prepared and gave out blistering arraignment of Republican National Chairman Hilles. which was to
 have been released for publication Tn the next afternoon papers. After the shoot ing the statement was withdrawn from
 the press, and now will probably never De printed. It is said that the coloneis re- marks in that statement were of na- ture to burn up the wires.
 Now that the first wave or sympathy has passed by, the politicians are regard ing the situation with cold and practca eyes They realize that henceforth that Colonel Roosevelt will be regarded as a ] martyr. They bitterly contemplate the probability that the emotional public will overlook the fact that he called President Taft a receiver of stolen goods; that he likened Representative Bartholdt to a pickpocket: that he denounced the mem- bers of the nauonal committee as pack | of thieves that he characterized Governor l Deneen as falsifier and a crook and at tackled other men with equal violence. All this they think will be overlooked in the general outpouring of sympathy l for him and the indignation against his assailant.
 | The fact that the colonel insisted upon
 making his speech after being shot is
 pointed to by his followers as a striking evidence of his gameness and by others
 as a very unnecessary and foolish grand
 stand play Some people insist that he could not resist the temptation to be out
 of the ordinary and getting lot of ad-
 vertsng by walking out on the platform l to make a speech with the bullet of an
 assassin still in him, and they point to il
 as further evidence of the fact that he is unfit to be President because under an | impulse he does foolish and uncalled foI things. Nevertheless. Roosevelt is profit l ing at least for the present on the at tempt on flfs life,