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Show I GUERILLA WARFARE ON THE c Hi PRESIDENT. I' Tho Literary Digest has under the I I above caption culled tho following 1 H' from somo of tho most Influential and 1 H' best edited newspapers of tho coun- 1 H "It Is plain," says tho New Orleans Hi Picayune (Dem.), "that something la Hi going to happen In our national poll- H' tics, but just what It Is and when wo ; H! aro not yet clear." Nobody seems to H- bo qulto clear what tho upshot will H bo of tho "Insurrection" against tho Hi president In tho Republican ranks ot Hi tho Houso and tho bclllcoso attitude Hj of the Senate. The press of tho coun- U' try comment variously but tho ma- H'. Jorlty of papers seem to fool certain Hi that tho president's popularity Is too H; great for tho guerillas to overcome, Hi and that in tho end their missies will H provo boomerangs. Tho Now York H Evening Mall (Rep.) represents a H goodly body of opinion in its rathor H bitter observation: H "Tho real scat of tho difficulty lies H in tho fact that tho Congress of tho H United States persists In regarding it- H self as a spoils body as an office- H broking agency; that it thinks, first of H all, of the official patronage, and only H second of tho legislative function for H which it was really created. Con- H grcss is not intent upon broad ques- H . tions of national policy In this struggle Hi which is now going on in Washington. H Tho real points of dlffcrcnco aro not H; discussed In tho debates over tho H measures which aro tho nominal bono H of contention. Senators and ropro- H scntatlves cannot bring these matters H out.' Can Mr. Foraker stand up In the H open Senate and complain because the H president has not appointed his man H as consul at Glasgow? Can Senator H Alger complain becauso a favorite of Hj his has been passed over In tho np- H polntmcnt of a postmaster for Detroit? H. Can Reprcsentatlvo Qverstreet, of In- HJL dlana, confess that ho joints tho 'In- H surgents' becauso his local slate has H been broken?" H' Tho Mall goes on to predict that H tho pcoplo will not tolcrnto a condl- H tlon "Httlo short of anarchy." Tho H Now York Sun (Ind.) believes tho ro- H cent reform movement in politics has H Something to do with tho broken party H .. dlscipllno, but cannot help feeling H that so far as concerns the president, H "ho is too energetic, powerful, abovo H all too popular, to censo to bo the head H of the table." In another editorial tho H Sun holds that tho Insurgents "have l a perfect right to lnsurgo." Tho Kan- H sas City Times (Dom.), on tho other It hand, ominously remarks that "tho HI House, which has kept Its skirts prot- H j! ty clean for a considerable tlmo, is H getting into tho mud" and in the opln- H ion of tho Kansas City Star (Dem.), H those insurgents "are In a mighty bad H light as they stand at present." H Tho Now York Times (Dom.) Is dls- Ht posed to blnmo the president for all H tho trouble. It says: HI! "Mr. Babcock is looked upon as tho H" leader of the insurrectionists. Germs H of opposition to tho president's men- Hji surcs havo doveloped In other quar- Hl ters, too, and tho president seems to H ' take a flerco delight In watering them, H in tending them, and in promoting Hlj tholr growth. Hi1 "For Instance, when tho Missouri H! delegation at his request waited upon H him on Friday in order that ho might Hi labor to ovcrcomo their hostility to Ml, tho Statehood and Philippine tariff H bills, ho is said to havo made tho H charge that tho railroad and mining H Interests wcro using money 'to do- H feat this bill,'' adding, 'and some of H tho insurgents aro getting it. You H can toll Babcock I said so.' H "This was certainly not tactful It H was' probably not wlso. President Mc- H Kinley, wo think, would not havo used HI such an argument with congressmen Hi whom ho was trying to win over to tho HI support of an administration measure. A chargo of bribery practiced upon a iongrossmnn is not exactly oil upon roubled waters. It is moro in tho na-uro na-uro of vinegar, red pepper, and sul-llirlc sul-llirlc acid applied to raw surfaces. lr. Roosovelt was never an adept In ipplylng emollients. Tho irritant resources re-sources of tho pharmacopoeia aro more in his lino." Tho Philadelphlt Press (Itop.) feels called upon to play tho part of a "whip" for Speaker Cannon's colts and to urgo that tho Philippine tariff bill, tho joint statehood bill and tho rato bill aro necessary measures "approved "ap-proved by tho country and tho party." Tho Philadelphia North American (Rep.) gives stern warning that after all is said and done, tho president has 80,000,000 of freo Americans bo-hind bo-hind him and that certain congressmen, congress-men, particularly In Pennsylvania, better bet-ter havo a care, lest they bo left at homo by tho next election. "Few Americans," it adds, "would not rather trust Roosevelt with their liberties than to trust any ono man or group of men in either houso of Congress." Tho San Francisco Call (Rep.) thinks "his measures will outsail tho storm and survive for reference to tho people in tho coming election of tho next Congress," and, In tho opinion of tho Cleveland Leader (Rep.), "It behooves the Senate leaders to act circumspectly circumspect-ly unless thoy wish smoldering public resentment to burst into flame." Except Ex-cept among somo of the professional politicians and patronage-mongers, tho Indianapolis News (Ind.) believes, "Theodore Roosovelt is as strong as ho ever was." Tho News adds: "Wo think it is Important that this point should bo made clear, becauso the light now being made, under cover, against tho president, is really a fight on tho people. Tho men who oppose rato legislation, puro food legislation, proper control and restriction of mono-polios, mono-polios, freo trade with the Philippines all of which would greatly benefit the pcoplo aro exerting themselves to destroy tho influenco of tho president. And their activity Is prompted by their wish to defeat this legislation. It is not tho man Roosevelt they are fighting, but rato legislation. Tho peoplo should understand this, for, in spite of his mistakes, and notwithstanding notwith-standing certain very obvious defects, Theodoro Roosovelt Is tho best friend sometimes it seoms as though he were tho only friend of tho peoplo in Washington. Our correspondent suggests that, If tho president loses his fight for rate legislation, tho peoplo peo-plo will put tho blame on him. Wo very much doubt this. If thoy do thoy will make a mistake. Rato regulation will bo defented, if defeated at all, by the Sonato of tho United States, and wo do not think it will bo able to escape es-cape responsibility." Tho St. Louis Republic (Dem.), however, holds the' president responsible respon-sible for "lobbying," which it deems a "confession of weakness." Tho Now York Evening Post (Ind.), whllo predicting pre-dicting a clearer air, has this explanation explana-tion of tho so-called Insurrection: "A president onco In ofllco, and pledged as Mr. Roosovelt Is not to seek another term, becomes a more negligible quantity than ho likes to think. Political Interest soon centers elsewhere. Who Is to bo tho successor? succes-sor? What faction, what machine of tho many which aro assembling their parts, Is to force tho next nomination? Thoso aro tho lnstlnctlvo questions or politicians, who always hasten to pros-trato pros-trato . themselves before tho rising sun. They are doing it in Washington today. So many presidential booms nro In tho making that tho authority of tho president who has been made Is necessarily impaired. Congressmen aro moro anxious to make themselves 'solid' with Fairbanks or Shaw, Foraker For-aker or Tnft, Root or La Folletto, than to wait upon orders from tho Whlto Houso every day. It Is this scheming within tho party which partly nccounts for tho president's inability to whip It into lino for his pot measures." Tho Post (Ind.), of Washington, however, undertakes to talk to the president like a father and cannot help reminding him that "tho peoplo lovo tho old ways," and that "no glamour of dashing leadership, no allurement of towering ambition, will lnduco thorn to abandon them." The Post continues In this gravo strain and concludes: "Has Theodore Roosevelt the solidity solid-ity of judgment, tho equipoise, tho dispassionate dis-passionate grasp of tho situation to stand firmly within tho limitations ot tho Constitution? Outside tho possibilities possi-bilities may bo attractive, but the perils are great. Within aro tranquility tran-quility und tho security of the old order. or-der. Has ho enough of tho consideration considera-tion for tho other man and his point of view, enough of the unfailing tact and patlenco with which McKlnley so abounded, to dissipate rising opposition opposi-tion and party revolt? Patronage will not do it. Strict regard for constitutional constitu-tional rights and consecrated usage, timely concessions, and a conciliatory concilia-tory temper and attitude will. Whatever What-ever .political schemes and plotters may think or hope, the peoplo trust him and believe that his is not a waning star, and that as he has surmounted sur-mounted obstacles and risen to all high occasions in the past, so will ho in all tho days to be. ' Ho has come to the parting of the ways clothed with the most enviable fame and tho widest influenco whicn this generation has bestowed, and none but himself can strip them from him." |
