The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-07-05
FRIDAY, JULY >. 1912
MEANING OF THE THIRD rrCkET."


Rooseyelts announcement that he will con-
;is.ue his candidacy as The leader or third
party IS lnexplca6Ie except upon the alterna-
tye hypothesis of his continued faith In bis
vtss Ass- Discrimination in protesting himself
ia favor o. a progressive administration
ROOSEVELT stared out VIII a 1tzTs OF trurn--
ps;s TO depose ais former friend. President
Ne sssa}3s failed After tremen-+
a6usly effective Battle IL = number of States
~ biz card o. 5laster was trumped his other
card os strategy became the captive of piece
II 6aesse more brilliant even than any he had
areamed of
Under these circumstances. It uas reason
ssis n The light Of RooseveHs pretensions
thas he @aoald put a.mself in position to start
third parry IN case the nominee at Baltimore
sseula he one IN sympathy with what Is called
the reaetlouary tendency In the light Of the
conventions action. such a movement. when
persisted N becomes both futile and olsen
genuous
n Mr.. Roosevelt is siucere IN his desire for
: progressive government. ne should support
N s5uvefnur #tlsan The Democratic candidate
stands in specifically stated principles for what
Roosevelt has stood for in self-yannttng gem
eralities Mr.. Roosevelt has promised greatly.
while letting seven years of opportunity pass
b. with small performance Governor Wilson
has promised nothing not possible and has
daue much in his own State in short two
years OF effort against extremely heavy odds.
Roosevelt has made faces at she Constitution
and the courts Wilson has pointed out that
the real progressive ideal ia the extension Of
popular rule to the limits Of the power OF
people holding to representative government
With Taft the alternative to the best thing
hs could hope to do. what does Roosevelt
when he asista injecting A!5nsef into IA
squarey- drawn issue between progress and
reaction?
Significant 70 this question are the Two mat
ters OF his advisers and his siIences the
greatest and most vitality interesting question
OF the day AS his primaries were financed by
Perkins, IL his campaign to get ifs funds
from the interests that control the steel Trust
and the Harvester Trust. They. In turn, are
the interests that control big business"
generally and Big Business" IN the last
analysis means nothing more than the larger
Roosevelt. since the days Of his callow ain
cerlty as a half-uaked author made any
real declaration against the tariff. it has
escaped our attention. His actions when presi~
dent. and the actions and associations OF his
friends in his effort to become President again.
Sufficiently speak his attitude toward that sec
ton OF big Business" which really needs refor-
nation. In perestng in his candidacy against
Wilson. he shows either that he is fatuously
enamored Of All imaginary star or that
unable 10 himself succeed the weak man now
Ia Washington he IL willing for the personal
ends OF his monied friends to defeat the strong
man now in New Jersey
On no other assumption than this last one Is
/; possible to reconcile the vast contributions
which Perkins and his allies are preparing to
pour into the Golfers Of the Roosevelt propa-
ganda Not that they love Taft, for they de-
sfise him as having been more OF a menace TO
Illegal combinations than Roosevelt ever was.
MOI that they love Taft but that they fear
Wilson constitutes movement which hopes
through division Of progressive sentiment to
save from reputation a man who could not
himself
We believe that the development OF the cam
paign will show this truth so clearly that 1t
Will fail Of its purpose. II Is not possible In
national movement TO play at purposes
without the real purpose itself becoming con
fused Instead OF badly splitting the pro-
gressye vote. the Roosevelt movement Is more
apt TO draw from the strength that would other
wise go to Taft Some wooiy remnants OF
popuism may find new Moses in Roosevelt
bni the OF and sincere progressiyes
Mil vote for Wilson.
On the whole. welcome the third ticket In
tile belief that Il viii help The Democracy. and
IN the expectation that II will further contrib
ute 10 the elimination from the politics og tho
Nation the who, since the time Of Aaron
Burr. has created most discord. at greater *
rense-a and MiAa-leg -sa-nEn, than any etAag-
THE WAY OF 4 GOVERNOR
There was a time when the qualifications
for good Governor consisted of large round