Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1902)
wltf the Conservative * ROOSEVELT. Editor The Conservative : In The Conservative of the 2d inst. is an editorial under the head of "Roose velt , " in which a hopeful view is taken of the man who has fallen into the po sition of President. In the light of many recent events I am of opinion the broad-minded editor will have to make another analysis of Mr. Roosevelt. Egotism , overweening ambition , pos session of arbitrary power backed by military force to exercise it , a strenuous disposition , the impulses of a hunter , with a desire to slay , are all elements to harbor and evolve cruelty. Mr. Roosevelt velt possesses them in a large and active degree. With a born prejudice against democrats , impatient of opposition or restraint , regarding discipline and obedience to command as the first requisite in maintaining public order , viewing the citizens as undisciplined and' not submissive to command , his impulses dominate his wisdom and his inclination is to make his will law , and cruelly crush anything that obstructs him. With his memory of his "Round Robin" on file in the War Department , and of his "Rough Rider" command on a ranch and in Cuba , he loses sight of the infinite distance between those po sitions and that of the Executive of a great nation , under oath to take care that "the laws are faithfully executed the written constitution , the laws and treaties to it 'the pursuant being su preme laws of the land. ' " He fails to comprehend that personal feeling and impulse are not a proper part of the judgment and methods in considering and enforcing the laws ; 'that justice can come only with deliberateconscien tious and unimpassioned and imper sonal consideration of the facts in every case. Gen. Miles. The cruelty seemingly malicious with which General Miles was attacked and publicly censured by Roosevelt not in his office or the War office , but in the public reception room of the White House lias no parallel in any government. An invitation by a com- mander-in-ohief to a subordinate is equivalent to a command , which may not be questioned or neglected. After that censure and an order to the Secretary - tary of War to duplicate it and make a record of it in the War Depart ment , the very refinement of cruelty is inflicted by an order to attend as a guest at the dinner given to the diplomats of all nations , to sit and be stared at , con scious of the great humiliation to which he had been subjected , and published to the world as matter for the press. His treatment of Sohley has been equally cruel. Neither of these men had done anything officially worthy of censure. They had done only whal nearly every man in the army or navy iiMMaiii nan iad done expressed a private opinion not in harmony with Roosevelt's ; a mil- ion times less inimical to discipline than Roosevelt's "Round Robin" to the N"avy Department which had the im pudent character of being semi-official. As well censure Dewey for daring to express an opinion differing from that of a majority of the court of inquiry. The contrast between Roosevelt in that ante-room and Miles on that long raid through Arizona and Mexico with his life hourly emperilled until Geroni- mo and his band the murderers of hun dreds of innocent people were captured ; and of Long in his office dictating his approval of the court of inquiry against Schley ; and of Schley looming out of the smoke of battle to receive the fire of the whole Spanish fleet and follow ing that fleet until he annihilated it , with the loss of only one man , is so overwhelming , and the injustice done them on the part of Roosevelt and Long is so rank , and the cruelty so seemingly malicious , that the face of every Ameri can should be hot with shame and in dignation and seemingly the faces of a majority of them are so. Much credit was given to Roosevelt when the mantle which covered Mc- Kinley's fatal wounds fell upon him , in anticipation. Many qualities were given him which he never possessed. Much was expected of him in states manship he could never manifest. Many assumptions were made as to action and results likely to follow his assumption of duties beneficial to the nation at large , of which he was the chief repre sentative. But alas ! How completely he has failed to fill the anticipations of his friends , and how wofully he has disappointed the people whose trustee a miserable assassin had involuntarily made him. Presidential Responsibilities. The government of 85,000,000 of people ple of mixed blood representing every class under heaven from the primeval savage to the highest products of civil ization , scattered over nearly 4,000,000 square miles of territory , under a con stitutional form of government with a century's accumulation of relations with every other nation on earth , is a responsibility actually appalling. That is the responsibility which faced Mr. Roosevelt when he took his oath of office. He came to that office as the chief representative of each and all of those people , as between their legal rights at home and their international rights as to all other peoples. He could not be the representative of a party , or of any one special policy. The sole duty of government is to pre serve the public order and administer justice among all the states and all the people through the governmental agencies provided by law. The policies to accomplish this must be formulated to meet emergencies as they arise. His duty was to inform Congress from time to time of the state of the country , and recommend such measures as he deemed expedient to that end. For what ? For the benefit of the republican party , or of any class of men or officials , or any syndicate or corporation , or for the general welfare of all the people whose representative lie is or should be ? Did Roosevelt think he could carry into his great office and consider it in discharging his offi cial duty , his prejudices against demo crats and their policies , his preposses sions in favor of republicans and their policies , or any other partisan feelings , and feel , think and act like a statesman and dispose of emergencies and ques tions of policy as they arise from time to time single and in complications as a statesman should , and so as to ad minister justice ? If he did he was wholly unfit for the place. From his demonstrations so far it would seem that he went into office as a partisan , to make his great office serve his party , and ignore the opinions and wishes of the more than 7,000,000 of electors who are opposed to his party and its policies. With more arbitrary power than any King or Emperor , the welfare , and it may be the destiny , of eighty-five mil lions of people , and of one hundred billions of taxable property , with an other hundred billions of credits at home and abroad invested in vital en terprises , are to be affected by his con ceptions of his place and its require ments , and we may all pray and hope for an exercise of wisdom on his part ; but the faith of the best of us must re main more or less bolstered bjr hope rather than by its own inherent strength. A Part Atonement. If Roosevelt could be made to com prehend that he has put a great shame on the American people , has smirched the national dignity and his own as their national representative , by his treatment of Miles and Schley two of his greatest and most important sub ordinates and two of the people's great est public servants ; and that , if any representatives of this nation are to be sent to represent it at the coronation of King Edward VII , the sending of Miles and Sohley would make some small atonement to those people and show a sense in him of the gross injustice done by him to those able servants as well as to the public at large. And it is in the power of the press of this country if it sees proper to do it to compel him to appoint them. "Let justice be done though the heavens fall. " Looking as far into the future as I can , with some knowledge of the opera tion of natural forces in relation to human affairs , and with a recognition of the remnants of savagery in men which education seems unable to eradi-