The sun., 1916-10-19
Colonel Roosevelt at LOuisviIle.

ROOSEVELT addressed at Louisville
last night, are II people sensitive
about their honor and quick To resent
wrong and insult, one more so: and
the Colonel's exposure of the cant
and cowardice of Mr.. WILSON'S for
eign policy must have put all the cor
puscles Of their blood ''into shouting
shape," to quote WOODROW WILSON
In q moment Of rhetorical valor cal
culated for an occasion.
In the sharpness of its analysis. In
its spirit Of traditional Americanism.
robust yet restrained, and In the vi
rility Of Its appeal. the speech de-
llvered Mt Louisville vas perhaps
Colonel RoosEyrLr's best contribution
b the campaign.
The Louisville speech lends itself
to quotation so SUCCESSFULLY that to
refrain is impossible. OF the Next
can policy Colonel ROOSEVELT said
that "NIr. WILSON does not mind the
Mexicans being nj war with us so
long rs we are lot ut war with the
Mexicans." There has been no keener
characterization of "watchful walt
Ing" The Colonel must have had
Carriznl in mind when he declared
that "Mr. WILSON'S conception of war
painfully resembles that described by
Mr.. STEPHEN LEACoCK in his a~neciote
Of how Mr.. Smith took Mr.. Tompkins
by the coat collar from behind and
began kicking him vigorously, and
the fight continued in this manner
for several Minutes" Again. with
Hayti in his thoughts, the Colonel
observed that Mr.. WILSON has taught
the world that ~ nation which Is
small enough to he helpless can in
suit us with impunity."
But Mr.. I~ioosEvELT's humor was
grim and mordant he employed 1t
only to illustrate the pusillanimit!
Of Mr.. WILSON'S policy in dealing
with the MeNicans. Stern was the
speakers tonp when he summed up
the fruit.' Of that shameful policy:
ale has permitted the country 20 he
ruined and its people decima;ed. He has
permitted our own people 10 he muir
dered unchecked. lie has rrostItuted our
national honor to the bandits whose
cause he has espoused. And he has won
from those bandits only n venomous and
treacherous hostility to the United
States"
Can there he intelligent dissent from
this view: If ii j. severe. then the
truth is severe. The Judgment passed
upon Mr.. WILSON'S diplomacy in I'll,
European war was rs plain spoken
and rs just. II any man in America
can consistently say what he woult
have done To assert American rights
II Is THEODORE ROOSEVELT. for he has
supplied precedents himself. How
ever, he did not tell his hearers nj
Louisville what he would have done
but what should have been done.
llC '''it VI li'ii'l' w N'iil'l ~ e..
risk and of permanent safety SHOULD
have been followed. Whether in deal
ing with German submarine fright
fulnesS" or with Great Brltuin's block
ade abuses We should have stood VI
fpnrleSsly for our rights and cham
piOned, ut the same time, the right
Of the weak against the strong: but
said Colonel ltOosENEIT. 1--WE con
plished nothing with either side, W,
incurred resentment from both sides.
This again Is the literal and the hu
initiating truth.
Kept us ont of war; cried Cola
mel ROOSEVELT sCornfulIy EFF th'
Wilson Administration could point Il
one sacrifice this nation has made
for the right. 10 II indication o
willingness to face loss on behalf o
n principle. it might deserve som,
credit. > " II we had done whn
wc ought to have done our neutralit.
would have been II badge of homo
and not one of shame" Strong word,
but does not every American win
loves his country and knows its ira
ditions share Colonel ROOSEVELT
honest Indignation?
The Rulers OF Greece.
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