Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-30
SAYS CAUSE LAGS.
Roosevelt on Conservation and
Bettering Country Life.
SPEAKS IN THE TWIN CITIES
Closes Busy Day With Speeches in
St. Paul and Minneapolis.
ADAPTS WORDS OF LINCOLN
Declares President and His Sup
porters Are UNFOLDING Con-
trary Doctrine.
WORDS OF LINCOLN

ST. PAUL Mimi, March 3O-CoI.
Roosevelt said in a speech delivered here
last night that the movement for conserv-
ing the countrys natural resources and
for lettering country life had not been
carried forward since his administration.
He advocated policy Of governmental
activity in this direction
Col. Roosevelt's address was delivered
toward the close Of day in which he
Travelled across Iowa and part of Mime
sofa and made a dozen speeches On
reaching st. Paul he conferred with po-
litical supporters and in the evening went
to the auditorium, where he made his
principal speech of the day He then
went to Minneapolis to make a short
speech before starting for Chicago.
At Cedar Rapids. Vinton, Waterloo, &C.
dar Falls and Rockford. in Iowa, and
OWatonna, Faribault and Mortified, in
Minnesota, Col. Roosevelt spoke from the
train platform. The impromptu meetings
at railroad stations were among the larg-
est of Col. Roosevelt's tour through the
middle west, and On no previous day did
he find the crowds more demonstrative
In these speeches he repeated his argu-
ments in favor Of control of the govern
ment by the people instead of by "a rep
resentative part of the people, which he
said always meant the bosses.
A delegation from st. Paul and Min
neapolis met Col Roosevelt at Albert
Lea, Mimi. and escorted him to the twin
cities.
Col. Roosevelt's private car when his
Paul will be switched to a belt line which
will convey him around Chicago to the
road over which he will travel to Detroit
Makes Spectacular Entrance.
Col. Roosevelts entrance to the audi
forum here was spectacular. Seated in
an automobile from which a dozen flags
were flying. he was driven through a
rear door on the floor Of the building, into
the fringe OF the crowd. All of the seats
in the auditorium were occupied and the
people streamed in until there was no
more standing ROOM
Col. Roosevelt departed from the text
of his prepared speech to discuss sew
eral other questions which he has taken
up in recent addresses He laid en-
phasis upon the direct presidential pri-
mary.
Wants Better Rural Conditions.
Turning to the subject of country nfe,
Col. Roosevelt maintained there was no
more urgent problem before the people
He called attention to the serious exodus
from rural communities. and said: This
cannot go on Indefinitely. If this human
reservoir from which the cities have
drawn and must continue to draw so
much Of their best citizenship becomes
depleted and deteriorated, the cities them
selves will be the greatest sufferers from
the evils which always threaten a nation
which. as a whole. abandons the country
for the town. National degeneracy will
then proceed apace."
AS remedy Col Roosevelt proposed
cooperation and the development Of a
rural districts The Department of Agri-
culture, he said, should stand at the head
OF and foster the movement for the need
ed far-reaching agricultural reforms In
conclusion, he said:
I'VE progressives stand for the two poll
ctes OF conservation and the betterment
OF country life We regard them both as
urgent and claimant for action. For the
last three years there has been, as re-
CARDS both of them. first, reaction. and,
second, when under a storm of public
disapproval the policy Of open reaction
was abandoned weak and hating action,
which can only come from a deep and
abiding conviction. We demand such lead
ership, and we demand In the leaders the
deep conviction which alone can give
there
be response to the appeal which comes
direct from the heart and conscience of
the people to the mind and will Of the
statesman.
"For the People, Against Bosses"
Col. Roosevelt. speaking in Minneapolis
last night. said in part as follows:
In the fight In which we now are en-
gagged the lineup is clear. We stand for
the plain people against the bosses We
stand for the rights Of the many against
special privilege.
well meaning men. at their head the
President OF the United States himself,
have continually been insisting on the
shortcomings of the rule of the people,
have announced they are against the de-
cision of vital questions by the people
because they distrust the impulsive &C
ton Of the people (although in the par
ticular case referred tothis impulsive' &C
ton would have to be spread over a pc
ROD or two years. which Is certainly long
enough to permit impulse to become
steady purpose) and have insisted that
Abraham Lincoln was wrong when he
said that this should be a government of,
for and by the people. and that instead it
ought to be government Of the people
by part OF the people.
Waging Fight Fought by Lincoln.
I'm the contest today we are warning
against the same forces that opposed
Lincoln. We are striving for precisely
the principles for which Lincoln strove.
In one Of his closing debates with Doug
las years ago he spoke as follows:
That is the real issue. That Is the
Issue that will continue in this country
when those poor tongues Of Judge Doug
las and myself shall be silent. 1t Is the
eternal Sfr1lQpla hafwRpn fhaao fvvn rrfn-
ciples-right and wrong-throughout the
world. They are the two principles hiatt
have stood face to face from the begin
ming Of time and will continue to strug-
gle.
Change the names 50 that they will
apply to the men and events Of our
own time and this sentence describes the
present contest as accurately as 1t de-
scribed the contest in which Lincoln was
then engaged.