New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-11
Do They Want Roosevelt?

Republican candidate for President IN
1916? Do they desire TO see Mr.. Roose-
welt nominated and elected?
Colonel Roosevelt's weaknesses are bet
ter known than those of any other Ameri-
can. The years since he left the White
House have been years which have sub
tracted from rather than added to his
stature as public man. There have been
times in the past three years when his
fellow-countrymen have been almost con-
WINGED that his usefulness was at an end.
But in the last few months there has
been no installing the fact that there has
been a real change in public opinion, and
men who were long and steadfasty OPP
posed to Mr.. Roosevelt as President and
as a candidate are daily confessing to
a change of opinion and feeling.
The reason is simple, and it is explained
tv an almost uniform statement. Thou
sands and thousands of Americans be-
lieve that if Theodore Roosevelt had been
President of the United States there would
have been no Lusitania tragedy. Those
who hold that the tragedy was inevitable
believe that without war and without peril
e war Mr.. Roosevelt would have obtained
from Germany disavowal and guarsn-
tee against repetition of the crime.
There is one point on which Mr.. Roose-
Its strength has never been questioned.
is a patriotic, loyal, aggressive Amerl-
can. He has from the beginning of his
life stood consistently and sturdily for an
Americanism which is the natural out
growth of the Americanism of l775 and
1861. At all times, under all circum-
stances. without hesitation and without
qualification, Colonel Roosevelt has cham
pioned, fought for, served, an ideal Of ma
tional honor which came down to him from
OtneH generations VI
In the present crisis in American his
tory. when we are involved in dispute
with Germany because Germany has muir
dered American citizens, when we are fac
ing a situation of anarchy and domestic
strife at home, Colonel Roosevelt is the one
American who has, without hesitation and
without thought of the political effect of
his words, spoken frankly.
Other public men have cavilled and
crawled. They have not dared to say the
invasion of Belgium was a crime, even
though not a crime calling for political
Intervention on the part Of the United
States. because such a declaration would
repel German-American votes. They have
not dared to assert that all that America
stood for in history and tradition was at
stake on the European battlefield, and that
our cause was the cause of France and OF
Great Britain. But Colonel Roosevelt has
said its saying IT, Other men in pubic
life and Office have mistaken the condition
Of neutrality for that Of neuter, and the
mistake flows from political anxieties and
concern for hyphenate votes.
Now, if the Republican leaders in Wash
ington believe that they can initiate Mr..
Wilson. preserve a discreet silence upon
the things that are uppermost in the minds
and hearts Of most Americans, keep the
votes of the Americans without repulsng
those of the Americans, invite TO
the Republican party the votes Of those
German-Americans who are angry at Mr.
Wilson for the little he has done TO pre-
serve American self-respect, while enlist
ing the support Of those who resent his
course as cowardly, they are making a
grave and fatal mistake.
The issue Of the next campaign will not
be the tariff. II will not even be prepared
ness. 1t most assuredly will not be Mr..
Wilson's Mexican policy. The issue of the
next election will be the preservation of
American honor abroad and American ex-
istence at home. The issue cannot be
lodged, IL cannot be escaped, it cannot be
forgotten by mutual consent. Millions Of
American citizens in the last few weeks
and months have awakened TO the realiza-
ton Of the new conditions and perils that
face the country. They are at last APP
preciating the shame and humiliation OF a
foreign policy based upon domestic politi-