Imperial Valley press., 1912-10-04
WHAT THE SPEECH LACKED
IN THE WAY OF REASON

Editor Press, Dear Sir: With due
respect to the good intentions and the
honesty of the man from Arizona, VIII .
spoke for the Democrats last evening
was unable to locate his exact thread
Of argument, and l believe 1 know
one when l meet it, unless you call
ranting bull mooses" and on petty
inc dents in mans life as argument.
few disconnected so-called points
might be mentioned, because of their
being liable TO mislead.
Two Of these, if they had been pre-
>euted in proof of some generally
criminal disposition. might have been
AIKEN more serious.
Time and space viii permit only a
glance at the speech, with, perhaps.
a few words on some of these mos,
insignificant points. We hope later
the editor and circumstances permit
ting to discuss some of the more i'm
portant.
The gentleman rants on bull moose"
proving thereby that Roosevelt is try
ing to browse On the American people.
Any sane person knows that there is
about as much argument in the above
as there is in the chattering of a mon
Key ne seal CitS Oul Illlit u ~ al
things in Roosevelts long, aggressive
career and tries to make them PATHETIC
so pathetic-not telling what little
things he or Wilson or anyone else
has done. These prove nothing unless
it could be shown that there was a
general tendency along a certain line
from the beginning, making all thes,
in harmony with that general tendency.
AS to Roosevelt's being belated on
recall" and woman suffrage" I know
he is not belated as the gentleman
pictures him. But times are changing;
evils of the past few months have not
only deeply impressed Roosevelt, but
have stirred the whole country. Any
sane person now sees, if not before,
that these measures are best. We all
are more or less belated in good
thoughts and deeds. Martin Luther
was belated; the thief at the cross be-
lated. Mr.. Bryan is even belated. As
to Mr.. Wilson's being belated, his
words three years back against labor
and against democracy and higher edu-
cation for the poor are sufficient.
The gentleman says the Progressives
will soon be dead. They are too strong
and have too great principles for that, q,
they are too great in numbers. He
will find them very much alive, per-
haps to his sorrow. The Republican
party died in 1856, I suppose.
AS to trusts space and time will not
permit a more thorough discussion just
now. Suffice to say his arguments are
weak, producing no motives, as should
be, and no causes leading up to the in
cidents. He condemns generally
Roosevelt's method, but does not sug-
gest a better.
The gentleman has forgotten the
proper method of judging a man when
he rants on Roosevelt's petty private
or public faults, as he calls them, of
years ago. In 1897 the evil of trusts
was not considered, nor was it unlaw-
full campaign funds in 1904. Public
opinion was not crystallized Lori
mer's public opinion has been made
for good while, and there was law
the gentleman criticise the general
tendency of Roosevelt's career. The
people know Roosevelts faults; they
know his good points; they have
true that he is vile he undoubtedly
is fooling all the people all the time
Almighty judged us by our petty, dis
connected errors, the game would be
up with all of us. Mans life is a great
masterpiece; it has its faults, its uncon-
whole. 1t should be criticised more as
a purpose or plan, than as to a few
petty faults Not work has Shake
speare, Byron, Keats, Shelley, Burns,
Wadsworth or our own Longfellow or
Poe in which, if 1 wished l could not
find something that could be better
Yet most are perfect in themselves
Let us be broad, not characteriZing a
man as demon, because of some
trivial private mistake in years gone
by. l. l.. MASSEY