Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-02-29

october II. 1908, 1t th> postonlce -
eunWa, Iowa, under the ACT OF
arsss OF March :. 1879.
RoosEvELTs ENDORSEMENT OF
PRESIDENT TAFT.
One OF the warmest Inducements
received by Taft when he was candl-
date for president in 1908 was written
In September of that year by Theodore
Roosevelt. then president. The repub-
ncan campaign book for 1908 on page
"a contains the following letter writ
ten by Roosevelt to his friend conrad
Kohrs of Helena, Mont:
The true friend of reform, the true
foe of abuses, is the man VINO steadlly
perseveres In righting wrongs, in war
ring against abuses, but whose cnar'
acter and training are such that ne
never promises what he cannot per.
form, that he always little more than
makes good what he does promise, ana
that, while steadily advancing, ne
never permits himself to be led INTO
foolish excuses which would damage
the very cause he champions. In ME-
Taft we have man who combines all
these qualities to degree which no
other man in our civil life since the
civil war has surpassed. To flaming
hatred of injustice, to scorn OF all
that is base and mean, to, hearty SYM
pathy with the oppressed, he unites en-
tire disinterestedness, courage both
moral and physical of the very highest
type, and kindly generosity OF ma
ture which makes him feel that all OF
his countrymen are in very truth his
friends and brothers, that their inter-
ests are his, and that all his great
qualities are to be spent with lavish
freedom in their service. The honest
man of means, the honest and law
abiding business man, can feel safe in
his hands because of the very fact that
the dishonest man Of great wealth, the
man who swindles or robs his fellows,
would not $50 much as dare to defend
his evil doing in Mr. Taft's presence.
The honest wage worker, the honest
laboring man, the honest farmer, the
honest mechanic or small trader, or
man Of small means, can feel that in a
peculiar sense Mr.. Taft will be his
representative because Of the very fact
that he has the same scorn OF the
demagogue that he has for the cor
ruptionist, and that he would front
threats of personal violence from a
mob with the unquailing and lofty in
difference with which he would front
the bitter anger of the wealthiest and
most powerful corporations. Broad
though his sympathies are, there is in
him not the hghtest tinge Of weak
ness. No consideration of personal In
terest, any more than fear for his per-
sonal safety, could make him swerve
hairs breadth from the course which
he regards as right in the interest Of
the whole people.
have naturally peculiar interest
in the success OF Mr.. Taft, and in
seeing him backed by congress which
would heartily support his policies. For
the last ten years, while have been
governor OF New York and president, /
have been thrown into the closest In.
tfmacy with him, and he and I have
on every essential point stood in
heartiest agreement, shoulder to
shoulder. We have the same views as
to what is demanded by the national
interest and honor, both within our
own borders and as regards the re.
lations of this nation with other ma
lions. There is no fight for decency
and fair dealing which I have waged
In which have not had his heartiest
and most effective sympathy and sup.
port. and the policies for which I stand
are his policies as much as mine.
This statemtnt was written during
the closing days Of the Roosevelt ad.
ministration and during the campaign
for the election of his successor. AS
Col. Roosevelt says he had been on
terms Of the closest intimacy with
Taft during the preceding ten years
AS q member of the Roosevelt cabinet
Taft had been Roosevelt's chief aid.
To him devolved the duty of bringing
order out of chaos in the Philippines,
and much of the heavy preliminary
Panama canal work fell to his lot. He
did more, probably, than any member
Of the cabinet, to make the Roosevelt
administration success.
During the three years of his occup-
ancy of the executive chair President
Taft's official record has justified the
praise given by the former president.
He has clearly demonstrated the broad
sympathy, the high moral courage, the
kindly generosity of nature and the
other great qualities which Roosevelt
ascribed to him.
The Roosevelt Endorsement is as sin
cere tribute to Taft in 1912 as it was
In 1908. .u "
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