Connecticut western news., 1919-10-30
MASS MEETING IN
 HONOR OF ROOSEVELT
Continued from page g)

M LIOOpS HUH upOn IuG IGNO-
 lutionists. No harm was done by II this act, as the Columbian troops had
 already reached their obpective. It
 may be urged that without the moral
 and tacit physical support of this Il government Columbia might have
 suppressed the insurrection. This
 may be so. What we do know is
 that Panama established her inde- H pendence and whatever there is in
 the principle of self-determination
 will justify her revolt against a
 country which was alien to her and
 of whom she had a right to be inde- u pendent.
 IF But against the dubious claims
 pressed against our course at that
 time the big fact is that this Ameri-
 can President swept technicalities to t the winds and by his firmness and
 vigor made possible this greatest of
 American enterprises. He thus gave li to the cause of democracy in the re-
 cent Great War" an instrument of transit the value of which to the Il Allied arms is absolutely incalcu-
 lable. Roosevelt not only started the Panama Canal but he drove through obstacle after obstacle in the early l years of the work, in this way only
 making it possible that the great artery of communication between the east and west would be made cer- tain for the then unknown world < conflict that was to come.
 il When those who carped at him for his conduct in the matter are buried 1 in past that knows no resurrection, his name will emblazon history as the man who made the divided oceans as one. When you pass through the ' Panama Canal or gaze upon it as l you cross the Isthmus, then and then only do you intensely appreciate what this work has been. Man do you realize the full significance of this manifestation of our national greatness? Prouder than ever of your birthright, with quickened heart you answer the challenge of . the ages, and proclaim, this was done by that incomparable American, Theodore Roosevelt.
 5l Mr Roosevelt's leadership of the 5i Progressive Party has been most ]. variously and sometimes most un- s charitably construed. It would be exact to say that it brought upon j him more vituperation than has been levelled at any public man in this 5 country. There were many who 5 sincerely believed that the new party a was only a vehicle for the accom- 5 plishment of his personal ambition. 5 That they were mistaken will un- 4 doubtedly be the verdict of history. If MT. Roosevelt had not led the Pro- 5 gressive Party, there would not have 5 been a new party at that time hst 5 there would have taken place a tre- mendous shifting within the older 5 parties with a probable drift towards B new organization in the near fu- ture. ../
 9l In all probability the Progressive ! movement was unavoidable. That it I focused around the personality of MT. Roosevelt was not fact of his creation but a remarkable tribute 5 to the character and prestige of the 3i .ar7.
 They sought this first, in the effort 5 to secure for MT. Roosevelt the Re- q publican nomination and failing that they insisted upon registering their will through party of their own 9i creation in the national election. 9, Would MT. Roosevelt have been jus Jl tified in refusing to lead that move j ment? If only personal questions I were at stake, the answer would be yes. But in the light which he had 2 regarded the movement to have de- clined to be it's leader would have 7 been an act of desertion. Under any leader but Mr. Roosevelt the move 9 ment would not have recorded so large a vote. In the discussions of this striking episode in Mp. Roose- 5 velt's life, too much stress has been 5 placed upon the proceedings of the 9 Republican National Convention of 7 1912 in the matter of contested dele gates. These proceedings, in some 71 cases thoroughly reprehensible, while 9 an irratant of unquestionable force, 5 would not have been sufficient in 5 themselves to lead over 4,000,000 voters to cast their ballots for MT. 9 Roosevelt.
 It was something much more pro- l found that effected this great poli- sI tical revulsion. The progressive I movement spent it's force but not until its principles had in large part 9 been adopted by the old parties. MT. 5 Roosevelt lived to see this accom- RI plished, and also to be acknowledged s as the undisputed leader of the 5 party he had temporarily left. No 5l such personal triumph has ever been 5 won by an American statesman If sI we search for the causes of this 5 unparalled individual victory we q find them fully explained in the chivalric opinion expressed by former President Wm. H. Taft, who has said 5I of MT. Roosevelt that "The nation 1l has lnst the most commanding. the