Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-01-07
CoIoneI's Stand for U. S. Action
in War Said to Be Making
Great Roadway +.

An editorial in the New York Tri-
bune of December IL which has been
received with countrywide interest
/ forecasts the possibility of Col.
Roosevelt soon emerging as more than
4 a possibility for nomination for presi-
dent. The editorial says: .:.:- :.
Do the Republican leaders in Wash
Fington desire to make Theodore Roose-
welt the Republican candidate for
president in 1916? Do they desire to
see Mr. Roosevelt nominated and
elected?
i Col. Rooseveltis weaknesses are bet
| ter known than those of any other
American The years since he left
the White House have been years
which have subtracted from rather
| than added to his stature as public
man There have beentimes in the
past three years when his fellow
countrymen have been almost con.
WINGED that his usefulness was at an
end ..s...#~
| But in the last few months there has
been no mistaking the fact that there
has been real change in public opin-
! ion, and men who were long and
| steadfastly opposed to Mr.. Roosevelt
as president and as a candidate are
daily confessing to change of opinion
and feeling. >........... !. H..
The reason is simple, and it is ex-
planned by an almost uniform state
ment. Thousands of Americans be-
lieye 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 to us
Mr.. Roosevelt would have obtained
from Germany a disavowal and guar
antee against repetition Of the crime.
There is one point on which Mr..
Roosevelt's strength has never been
questioned He is patriotic, loyal,
aggressive American. He has from
| the beginning of his life stood con-
sistently and sturdily for an American
/ ism which is the natural outgrowth
of the Americanism of IT'S and 1861.
| At all times, under all circumstances,
without hesitation and without quail
| fication, Col Roosevelt has champion
ed, fought for, served, an ideal of ma
/ tional honor which came down to him
from other generations of Americans
In the present crisis in American
! history, when we are involved in a dis
pute with Germany because Germany
| has murdered American citizens, when
we are facing a situation OF anarchy
| and domestic strife at home, Col.
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 crime
| calling for political Intervention on
| the part of the United States, because
such declaration would repel Ger
| man-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
Col. Roosevelt has said it's saying
| it Other men in public life and office
have mistaken the condition OF neu-
trality for that of neuter, and the mis-
take flows from political anxieties and
concern for hyphenate votes.
Now, if the Republican leaders in
| Washington believe that they can imi-
tate Mr.. Wilson, preserve discreet
silence upon the things that are upper
most in the minds and hearts OF most
Americans, keep the votes of the
Americans without repulsing those OF
the German-Amert cans, invite to the
Republican party the votes of those
EGerman-Americans who are angry at
Mr. Wilson for the little he has done
to preserve American self-respect,
while. enlisting the support of those
who resent his course as cowardly,
they are making grave and a fatal
mistake. II:
The issue of the next campaign will
not be the tariff. 1t will not even be
preparedness. 1t most assuredly
Will not be Mr.. Wilson's Mexican
policy. The issue of the next cleo
ton will be the preservation OF Amer
can honor abroad and American ex-
istence at home The issue cannot
be forgotten by mutual consent.
Millions of American citizens in the
last few weeks and months have
awakened to the realization of the
new conditions and perils that face
the country. They are at last ap-
preciating the shame and humiliation
OF foreign policy based upon domes-
tic political considerations They
are perceiving the extent of pusillani-
nifty among their politicians and of
cowardice among their leaders.
in this situation there is one man
who has neither compromised nor
qualified. There is one man who has
from the very outset expressed his
convictions, his Beliefs his faith, and
that man is Theodore Roosevelt. He
has not stopped to consider whether
he could get the German-American
votes if he did not characterize the
Belgian infamy. He has not reduced
to districts and congressman the cost
of defending American lives and
honor. He has told the truth that
was in him.
If the Republican leaders in the
capital and the nation to-day are not
willing to face the situation that exists;
6 do nor dara ~ mt ~