News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1913-02-05
WAS 1T WORTH WHILE
An Open Letter to Mr.. Theodore Roosevelt,
Formerly President Of the United States

Published by Request
Regrets are vain things. Nothing is so
futile as self-repr zach. Yet as you sum
it all up, Mr.. Roosevelt, and search your
conscience, and balance what you have
lost as against what you have failed to
gain, can you honestly declare that you
believe it paid? Has it been worth while?
Compare your position now to what II
was and what it might have been at this
very day. You were once great leader
of a great party. You occupied a position
of extraordinary power and influence.
Europe listened to you. Asia heard and
pondered your words. Your own county
gave you attention. Whether for good or
evil, you were a force. You did maul
| things that were unwise, more often than
rot you made the judicious grieve. your
acts as well as your action could not al
| ways stand close scrutiny. Yet through
the gift of dominating personality. tie
mendous physical vitality, an alert mind
and retentive memory that enabled you
to absorb the thoughts of other men, you
struck out for yourself great place in
the world.
You had the greatest opportunity ever
vouchsafed man. The time was ripe for
a great leader really great leader.
Your party had been in power so long
that it had become arrogant, corrupt, in
efficient. 1t had become a party of mo-
| IA. 49,
| that had made war for freedom had sold
| itself into slavery. From a feeble oppo-
sition it feared nothing. The public was
tired of vague promises that had no
meaning, of lavish promises that were
| never fulfilled, There were certain whole
some reforms that it demanded, and it
| looked to you to carry them out, A man
is so often taken for what he claims him
self to be. You belonged to what is
known as 1.-THE better element" You
were labeled reformer. You had cham
pOned the cause of civil service reform
| against the spoilsmen and the spoilS seek
ing politician Ia the flush of Your youth,
fired by fine sense of duty, you had
SHOWN your deteStati0n of the unworthy
bv joining the noble band of mugwumps.
You had preached the ideal. Well, the
world took you tor what it believed you
generate society, believing that, no mat
ter what happened, you would hold true
10 the faith.
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY WASTED
1t is a mournful thing to see great
opportunity wasted. History will say,
Mr.. Roosevelt, that you wasted your Op-
portunity and filtered away your time.
History will tell succeeding generations
that you accomplished nothing. Histori-
ans will search in vain for single
achievement. Your biographers and par
tisans-whO are not historians-will say
you aroused the public conscience. His
tory, which is as impartial in its judg-
ments as fate is Indifferent to the fame of
man, will say that you perverted the pub
lie conscience by your precept and eX-
ample. | am willing to give the benefit
of every doubt. | am willing TO believe
that according to your own distorted
vision you saw the light, but it was a
light that baZed the path to destruction
Into the hearts of Zen you poured malice
and all uncharitableneSS into their heads |
you put envy; you destroyed their faith. |
Destroy faith that is the worship of false |
idols and no one shall challenge you, but |
to destroy faith and offer nothing in re-
turn, that is cruel. You attacked courts |
and legislatures, you taught men to be- |
lieve that purity no longer existed and |
dishonesty sat dethroned. You took from |
men the things they cherished, but you |
gave nothing. You came at time of |
unrest. You fostered it. You had no
remedy to offer. You could feed the
flame, but it needed a wiser head than
yours to keep the fire within limits.
TITLE OF GENIUS
| have said that you accomplished
nothing, but hi retract. There stands !
to your credit one achievement so great
that am almost inclined to bestOw upon
you. Mr.. Roosevelt, the title of Genius.
Sing demanded, in d day almost, as great
movements are measured, seemingly with
out effort you were able to do that which
millions of Americans bad essay ed with
desperate energy for fifty years and
failed. The Republican party was the
target for Democratic attack. At times
it's lines had broken, it had more than
once been forced to capituIate to Superior
numbers, but it had surrendered with
the honors of war and returned to battle
with renewed strength and courage. 1t
had been vanquished, but never defeated.
You wrecked the Republican party.
Surely history shall not deem man en-
tirely unworthy of notice who with the
sling of David could bring the Goliath
of politics to it's knees.
DISORGANIZED YOUR PARTY
When you entered the White House,
Mr.. Roosevelt, your party, perfectly dis
ciplined, captained by veteran leaders,
superbly organized, was in the majority
in both house and senate. When you
went out your party was disorganized,
its discipline broken, its leaders weary of
against the mutiny you had
encouraged. There are people ungener-
Gus enough to believe that you purposely
left your party bleeding at every pore SO ]
that you might be called back to bind up |
the wounds your hand inflicted. You ,
alone will know whether this charge be
true or false, the world knows how you
showed your gratitude for the honOrs so
avishly bestowed by your party. Even ]
hen all might have been well, you might {
still have retained your prestige and com /
handed your influence, had you been {
content to play the game as man should.
Fair play required that you should leave
Mr.. Taft alone. You must needs inter-
ere. You gave encouragement to bis
enemies, you lent willing ears to tale v
Ieai els, sedition and mu5iny met no re- S
} ouf from you. You began then that h
course that led not to Armageddon, as !,
'ou boastfully declared, but to Waterloo. : !,
only an Unsuitable lust for power plunged )
GU into that fight in 1910. Your weak I