The Republican journal., 1912-10-31
MIR. RoOsevelts Real Respon
sibility.

VI SOls hOOSGV6lt. IL eSClmdL6S no
lightly his service in seven years of the
presidential Office, and not least of all hi
awakening of public interest in the pro-
gram of social reform. Before his day
we were in this respect behind every
other civilized nation in the world. Nov
we are abreast of most of them, ane
ahead of some of them. Mr. Roosevelt
endeavors proved wholly in keeping with
the spirit Of the times which, in every
country of the globe, was appealing fol
leges and opportunities. His skill came
in his perception of this age spirit. |,
was no piece of petty caprice that lee
gram, to which he was clearly commit
ted, to take up railroad rate regulation,
on which his party's platform had been
wholly silent. And so it was with most
of the other choices of his admins IRA
/ ton.
But since his return from Africa, Mr.
| Roosevelt has assumed responsibility
which few men would be willing to ac-
cept He has risked, if he did not abso-
lutely undertake, the wrecking of the
party of his lifelong association, to
which he was under the greatest of
human obligations. And there was no
adequate call for this. Mr.. Taft, who
had been Roosevelt's original selection
for the presidency, to be sure had done
many things differently from his prede-
cessor, notably in dealing with Pinchot
and Garfield and Ballinger. But Mr..
Roosevelt could not reasonably expect to
manage the White House through dep
uty. Mr.. Taft in all the larger aspects
of his administration proved just as
progressive" to use this term in its
now accepted sense, as had his prede-
cessor He did vastly more toward put
ting our tariff relations on wholesome
basis, through his reciprocity and the es-
Establishment of the tariff board. As a
trust pursuer, he greatly exceeded in
activity and efficiency anybody who came
before him, and in parfecting the pro
gram of social reform he secured the en-
actment of much substantial legislation.
Such conditions did not justify his
smashing of the Republican party in
order to dislodge Mr.. Taft. Mr.. Roose-
Welt has evidently been persuaded that
it did. He began two years ago at the
time of the congressional elections by
announcing himself unprepared to say
whether he should support Mr.. Taft's
denomination. In spite of an avowed
Discrimination to enter the race himself.
he finally yielded to the entreaties of
a band of personal sycophants, many of
whom had failed to secure from Mr..
Taft all the recognition to which they
thought themselves entitled, and thus
supported, event in" for the Republican
nomination. He failed to get it. He
obtained vastly larger Republican sup
port than did Mr.. Taft. But this was in
large part due to feeling, to which the
colonel had himself been contributor,
that Mr.. Taft could not be elected, and
accordingly that the party should try
something new. With this feeling in
the air it was not at all surprising,
under the popular primary system, that
Mr.. Taft should have been distanced by
his more magnetic predecessor. But
Mr.. Roosevelt should not have made this
race. Mr.. Taft had done nothing to
deserve being elbowed out of the great
office.
Nor did Mr.. Roosevelt's failure to get
the nomination constitute sufficient
| justification for his running independent
w. Mr.. Blaine never thought of doing
so in 1892, when Harrison was nominal
mated over him, largely by the influence
of the same southern delegates who
| Drought L dlC . ouCSCoo W pass. buC MI
Roosevelt's failure at Chicago led him
to the vastly more serious step of in
sisting on Taft's defeat, even at the
cost Of the demolition of the party, anc
TODAY we have the spectacle of Repub-
licanism in serious disintegration every
where, with the very large risk that il
NAV not emerge from the present cam
paign.
And all this is to peculiar degree one
mans doings. 1t is monumentally rep
rehensible Mr.. Roosevelt can never
outlive the blot on his reputation which
the campaign of 1912 constitutes. The
nearest parallel instance has been Mr.
Bryan's relation to the Democratic
party since 1896. During most of tina
time he has made it clear that the party
must take him or defeat, but in thu
present campaign, he seems to have re
formed, and is actually supporting ,
candidate who only few years ago ex
pressed in writing the wish that Bryan
were knocked into a cooked hat.
There is thus hope that Mr.. Roosevelt
may cease to be disturbing element il
his party. Unless this is the case, tn
Democrats have found in him a wonder
full asset, and the country real peril
Boston Herald.
Never can tell when you'll mash finger o
suffer cut. bruise, burn or scald. Be pre-
pared. Thousands rely on Dr.. Thomas Eclec
tic Oil. Your druggists sells it. &c. and so