The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1912-07-30
KANSAS CITY ESI|.
MATE OF ROOSEVELT

The followers of Theodore Roosevelt
look upon him as the purest and best
American in public life, nothwithstand-
ing his record as a falsifer and his
ignorance of the truth in dealing
with public men of his own party. But
this coming from us may be considered
a preJudiced opinion. If so we invite
their attention to the following ar
ticel from the Kansas City journal,
one Of the stalwart Republican jour
nails of the middle west:
1.-The few newspapers of influence in
the country that are backing Roose-
welt for third term are very busy
nowadays defending their candidate
against two serious charges drunken
ness and excessiv egotism. As to
the charge of drunkenness, littde need
be said.
The prohibitionists eliminated
Roosevelt from the list of presidential
possibilities when they declared that
his confessed personal habits es-
tranged him from the prohibition fold
10 say that a candidate for the
highest office in the world is not an
alcoholic drunkard is to assert a mega
tive virtue. Many of the acts of
Roosevelt could better be explained
upon the theory that he was drunk
than in any less charitable way.
Whether it is better to be drunk with
out or drunk with craze for power is
a matter of individual opinion.
But to maintain that Roosevelt is
a patriot fired by unselfsh zeal for his
eountry's good is to state PROPOSE
tion that his most intimate friends
know to be false. Roosevelt is the
greatest egotist of his time. He is
fairly consumed with his own ambi-
tion.
Every act of his since he returned
from Africa indicates plainly that he
has fixed his mind upon continuing in
the Office of president as long as it
suited his vanity to dominate Ameri-
can politics. Had Roosevelt been tru-
ly solicitous for the country welfare
would have taken a different course
he would have taken different course.
He would have used his great influence
in a less selfish way. He would not
have proven false to Taft and stolen
the issues of LaFollette. He would
have remained in the Republican
party and helped draft a progressive
platform. Later, at Chicago, he would
have been willing to help Hadley get
the nomination as compromise pro-
gressive candidate. He would not
have tied up with Wall street and al
lowed George w. Perkins and j.
Pierpont Morgan to finance his cam
paign.
To say that Roosevelt is tn eonly
man fit to lead the progressive move
ment is to say that Hadley, Borah, La
Toilette, Cummins and all the rest of
the progressive leaders are either in
competents or hypocrits. To say that
Roosevelt honestly desires the triumph
of progressive ideas above his own
personal ambitions is to gainsay the
facts of very recent history. To say
that Roosevelt is actuated by high
moral motives is to condone som of
the dirtiest political trickery that was
ever attempted in partisan politics.
Roosevelt has surrounded himself with
an unsavory lot of political grafters,
bosses, trust agent and men who have
been kicked out of office for incom-
He has degenerated from a
position of high respect and influence
to the level of the ruleor-ruin office
seeker. His seconds and bottle holders
declare that he is no drunkard. Per
haps not. Under the circumstances,
that would be a minor delinquency in
contrast with some of his other grave
faults.'