Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-31
1.-THE Shadow of Roosevelt"
citizen Of New Jersey has writer

the New York Sun as follows:
Yesterday it was my fortune to
come into contact with two Roose-
welt meetings-at Paterson and New
ark, n. ]. There can be no question
crowds with him. On both occasions
mingled with the people and sew
eral times engaged the loudest of the
shouters in conversation as to their
admiration for Teddy" as they
styled him. One man told me: Tied
dy is all right; he Is sport" l ques-
toned another: do you believe that
Roosevelt is a truthful man." He re-
piled: He has the nerve; If they
catch him in a lie he gets away with
it," Another young man In Paterson
who was doing more shouting than
the ordinary offered me button with
"T. R." on it. hesitated before ac-
cepting 1t and asked him: why are
you so enthusiastic in your loyalty to
IRoosevelt?" "Ah!" he said, Taft has
no backbone If Teddy had been in
his place he'd taken Mexico long ago.
At the Military park in Newark lus-
ty lunged irlividual turned to me and
said: He's all right, amt he?"
asked him to particularize and he ex-
planned: He's too slick for any OF
'em. Why he forgets more about poll
tics every day than Taft ever knew
And so on went the explanation from
a dozen or more that I questioned. If
any one doubts this statement let him
make a similar experiment.
Roosevelts wonderful hold on the
public Is through his peculiar appeal
to the sporting instinct rather than
to serious thought or reflection. Poll
. toe ,.,tf fhn mo q
in which any sort Of tactics Is permis-
sible; and no man knows this better
than Roosevelt, for he has the Amer
lean equation gauged to the infini-
tesimal. To the sober minded and
thinking people the situation Is one
of apprehension for the permanency
of our republic. What can be the
quality of a citizen who proposes
Roosevelt VS.. Bryan, as lit would fur
nish lots of fun?"
1t will have to be admitted that this
citizen has the situation sized up pret-
ty correctly, both as to the secret of
Roosevelt's popularity with the masses,
and as to the character of the man.
He may also have just ground for
alarm as to the permanency of the re-
slider the situation so serious as all
that. No, we do not think Mr. Roose-
welt is a safe man, not at all; but
somehow we think there Is something
called him slick" and who boasted that
If they caught him in a lie he was
smart enough to get away with 1t"
Did he not, for instance, while stirring
up the trusts that had refused to come
across properly, give the Steel trust
permission to gobble Tennessee Coal
and Iron in violation of the law? And
did he not while inveighing against
corruption money in elections get
caught with the Hartman money on
his person, so to speak? Also was
there not some slick work done in con-
nection with the establishment Of the
Panama government, from which the
canal strip was taken, and was 1t ever
made clear as to exactly what became
of all that $50.000,0 900 that was paid for
the rights of the DeLesseps company?
the colonel's career that have never
been explained satisfactorily; but can
dor cOmpels the admission that in
most of his slick actions he was deal
ing with pretty slick people. If he
gets the nomination he is fully capable
of making deals with interests that are
now opposing him, which deals will
come pretty nearly securing his cleo
ton unless the Democrats nominate the
right man. and somehow we do not
feel that the Democrats have a man in
sight who will be able to do the trick
unless that man be Woodrow Wilson of
New Jersey, or possibly Mayor Gaynor
of New York. But so far as the fu-
ture of this government is concerned,
we are not alarmed. We believe 1t can
stand another term or two even of
Roosevelt though of course we hope
it will not be subjected to any SUCH
test.