Arizona republican., 1913-12-21

life, MT Roosevelt speaks of the series of questions circulated by the commits sion among farmers the object of which was to get information on the status of country life through the nations
 One of the most illuminating-and incidentally one of the most interesting and amusng-SerieS of answers sent to the commission was from a farmer in Missouri He stated that he had a wife and eleven living children, he and his wife being each fiftytWO years old; and that they owned five hundred and twenty acres of land without any mortgage hanging over their heads. He had homself done well. and his views as to why many of his neighbOrs had done less we'll are entitled to cOnsidera- tion These views are expressed in terse and vigoraus English; they can not always be quoted in full. He states that the farm homes in his neighbOr hood are not as good as they should be because too many of them are encumb- cred by mortgages; that the schools do not train boys and girls satisfactorily for life on the farm, because they al- low them to get an idea in their heads that city life is better and that to remedy this practical farming should be taught. To the question whether the farmers and their wives in his neigh borhood are satisfactorily organized, he answers: "Oh, there is a little one horse grange gang in our locality, and every darned one thinks they ought to be a king To the question. Are the renters of farms in your neighborhOod making satisfactory living" he an sWers: No; because they move about so much hunting a better job To the question, Is the supply of farm labor in your neighborhOod satisfactory? the answer is: No: because the people have gone out of the baby business and when asked as to the remedy. he answers, Give a pension to every mother who gives birth to seven living boys on American soil To the ques
 ton. Are the conditions surrounding hired labor on the farm in your neigh borhood satisfactory to the hired man. he answers: Yes, unless he is a drunk en cuss.' adding that he would like to blow up the stillhouses and root out whisky and beer. To the question, Are the sanitary conditions on the farms in your neighborhood satisfactory he answers: No: too careless about chicken yards. and the like. and poorly covered wells. In one well on neigh bor's farm l counted seven snakes in the wall of the well. and they used the water daily; his wife is dead now and he is looking for another
 That Third Term Matter.
 Of course the Autobiography would not be complete without some reference to the much disputed presidents third term question. MT. Roosevelt's ex- planation runs: The presidency is a great office and the power of the pres ident can be effectively used to secure a renomination especially if the presi- dent has the support of certain great political and financial interests. It is for this reason, and this reason alone. that the wholesome principle of contin- uing in office as long as he is willing to serve an incumbent who has proved capable is not applicable to the presi- dency. Therefore the American people have wisely established q custom against allowing any man to hold that office for more than two consecutive terms. But every shred of power which l a president exercises while in office 1 Vanishes absolutely when he has once l left office An ex-president stands pre- cisely in the position of any other priv l ate citizen and has not one particle | more power to secure a nomination or 1 election than if he had never held the l office at all Indeed he probably has less because of the very fact that he l has held the office. Therefore the reas- oning on which the anti-third term | custom is based has no application l whatever to an eX-president and no | application whatever to anything eX- Cept consecutive terms. AS a barrier of precaution against more than two l consecutive terms the custom embodies l a valuable principle. Applied in any other way it becomes mere formula | and like all formulas. a potential source l of mischievous confusion"
 Some Anecdotes.
 The pages of the Autobiography are