The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-03-12
THE ROOSEVELT LETTER.

amount of talking for himself, and is
uP TO his ears in such strenuous cam
! pagn TO got the nomination, that ono
naturally wonders how hc considers his
promises and his words lie said also
| that he did not intend ia have any per
sonalitics or bitterness in the cam.
palgn, which. of course. WAS rcasoua.
bic. thing To sa.y in ease he intended
merely 10 he n receptive candidates: for,
IN that attitude, he would have no oc-
casIon for any 'uproar, personalities, bit
| tcrnoSs. or any kind Of fighting lie
seems. however, TO have forgotten all
about his merely receptive candidacy.
and TO have thrown 10 the winds his
pledge against bitterness and PERSONAL.
| tics; for, has letter to his campaign
| manager. Senator Dixon, is full of ven.
ON, personality, and gall
lie first undertakes 10 make a point
against Mr. Mckinley. campaign man.
acer for the Taft headquarters, by a
| slurring allusion TO McKinley's cxpres,
Sion against changing the "ules Of the
game while the game Is in progress.
This is meat for Roosevelt, indeed !!
He does not consider the idea of calling
the contest as game worthy of the
occasion, and he scored Mckinley on
this point, but with rather feeble effect
to those who remember that he began
| his candidacy bv the phrase, my hat
is in the ring Surely, If he is at
liberty to indulge in slang of that kind
Mr.. Mckinley might he excused from
any homily from the user of that slang
about the high prophecies of the cam
paign.
Col Roosevelt next shows his utter
| dcmagoGy by referring TO the state
| inent Of Congressman Campbell, that
he does not believe in an appeal from
the umpire 10 the bleachers. Inasmuch
as Mr.. Campbell did not make this re-
mark IN any connection with the secur
ing of delegates TO the National Re-
publican Convention, as Col Roosevelt
undertakes to imply, but spoke of it
with reference to the recall of judicial
decisions, it is seen what an utterly
unscrupulous demagogu Roosevelt is III
his Misrepresentation of his opponents.
The Roosevelt letter is one devoted en-
tirelY to the campaign, to the getting
of delegates for the convention; and
set he drags in remark Of Represen-
tativc Campbell on the recall of Judi
cial decisions as appropriate to the
case, One would naturally expect that
a small~bore politician only would be
guilty Of such transparent misTepreseu"
tation and dcmagogism as this Or,
does he consider a iudici2l decision and
convention. or primary, TO select del
egatcs, TO he essentially the same thing?
Next. Col. Roosevelt passes to the
matter OF electing the delegates by pri-
maries, and be put forth the demand
that States like Illinois, Michigan, New
York, and Massachusetts be given a
chance to express their preference in
primaries as to whom they wish for
President. And yet little further
on bc says that ''here in New York,
for instance, the machines Of the two
parties have co-operated TO draw up
a primary law which imposes OH the
people system SO cumbrous. so in
volycd as to make it Impossible TO get
q fair expression Of public sentiment
and very difficult 10 get any expression
OF public sentiment at all. And yet
he " demands that New York express
its Presidential preferences at a prima-
~ at which il is impossible TO get
u fair expression Of public sentiment
VIC think that viii do AS specimen Of
dishonest special pleading. comment
upon it would be supcrAuous.
1t Is refreshing 10 see Col. Roosevelt
indulge in burst of rage against the
'body of professional politicians and
in dcnunciation of olfireholders leading
the fight in their Congressional districts
| to obtain delegates Tor the National
| Cony entiou, and cite North Carolina as
| frightful example of this sort OF 20
| Iitica work. Aud vet no President has
ever been quite so forceful, quite SO
strenuous. quite so dominant in obtain
! ing delegates from North Carolina and
other States Of the South. in precisely
that manner as President Roose-
welt himself. Mark Hanna was ac-
eused Of wonderful efficiency, and of
enormous trausgression in this sort Of
work; but no one ever carried 1t 10
| such an extreme of perfection, such an
overwhelming. victorious success, as
! Roosevelt has done. lie not only insist
cd upon dominating the conventions
through his power As President by
mcans OF tho oliiccho'ders Of his ap-
rointmeui. but he insisted that the del
egatcs so chosen should he mailed
down beyoud all possibility Of escape.
| II would seem as though the man must
nc dcmcnted to he making such an up
ronr about the very means aud methods
that nc himself reduced TO such sys-
tom OF perfection.
! l.. - Il q.