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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-