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Show B THE THIRD TERM THE WHOLE TRUTH. H' Tlie American newspaper writers, now that the presidential H campaign is well along toward the nomination of candidates, are H rapidly becoming partisan, and their views may be accepted as Hj biased, so we turn to a foreign land for a dispassionate expression H of opinion and today devote most of our editorial space to the fol- H ' lowing summary of American politics as taken from the London H . .Spectator, a paper not wholy in sympathy with Roosevelt's poli- H , cies 'et fair and impartial; a paper classed as the best edited in H England: Hli . Jrr- Kooscvell'fi announcement that he will stand for a third H I lerm a3 President of the United States if the Republican convention S ' desires That he should do so has provoked a storm of abuse in Am- 1 encn wIcn as a fainter and more polite echo in our own newsna- H I Pers- JJr- it00sevclt 1S accused of disloynltv to Mr. Taft and trcach- B ' J5.1;? t y.1e Republican party; he is" spoken of as the most sinister po- H litical figure of modern times; and the proofs of all these things H revolt round the fact that Mr. Roosevelt formcrlv said that he H would in no circumstances accept a third tenn of office Yet ho H uow onicsscs, not indeed his wish, but his readiness, to accept it H ,f . r Arthur Lee, in a letter to the Times, snvs that Mr. Roose- H velt r, pledge not to accept a third term meant, and bv reasonable Hfl persons was always understood to mean, that he would not accept H ' a, .thlF. successive term. We have no means of knowing whether H Inis is a correct reading of rr. Roosevelt's words or not; many l P.001.0 Pmk that k i b"t, on the other hand, manv people think HH that it is not. The actual words seem to have been. '' Under no cir- l cumstanccs will I be a candidate for or accept another nomination " U I,or ourselves, we do not greatly care what Mr. Roosevelt said l F meant. We are quite ready to be cpnvinced that at the time l Mr- Roosevelt used the words he meant that he would never be !; president of the republic again. But statements of intention of this k J"" are m P sense Podges, contracts or engagements of honor i hey nr entirely personal assertions which are not formally entered H into with any corporate institution capable of bargaining on the ' H subject, and they are uttered without knowledge of circumstances K to l ..."f dislike intensely statements of this positive kind which will 1 JJ llkeI-v as. nofc come home to roost some day, to the discomfiture of K the too-positive person who uttered them. -When Mr. Roosevelt gave ' I away his freedom of action we protested and hinted that he might t regret his words. H ! ... Mr Gladtone declared that he would never return to public i i tlte' and eYen Femarkcd. w believe, that his determination was Avrit- j c.5 on rock with a pen of iron; but the horror of Turkish atrocities HH did bring him back, when he felt that it was his sacred dutv to re- S ' turn ,and leftd a movement. Would any man say that Mr. Glad- H stone s reappearance was treachery to younger statesmen who had- counted on his observing his pledge? J The worst one can say of men who make rash pledges, which a sense of duty afterward requires them to retract, is that they have only themselves to thank jfor putting themselves in an undignified position. 7 i f It is open to the public to say: "We wilUnot trust or follow a man who docs not know; his own mind, and only makes declarations declara-tions of his intentions m order to withdraw them." But it, is not open to them to say that such a man has broken faith with some class or party which has a right to hold him to his word. In our view, indeed, Mr. Roosevelt, having, made a foolish assertion as-sertion of what he should do in circumstances which had not arisen and which lu? could not foresee, showed much greater sense and patriotism pa-triotism in noL acling upon his unnecessary jand uncalled-for attempt at-tempt to bind himself in advance than he would have done by f sticking to his declaration and pretending that he was something sacred. i . When a man has said a foolish thing for, remember, it was only said it is not merely his right but his duty not to make things worse by insisting on abiding by it. His dutv is to refuse to throw good deeds after bad words. The head and front of Mr. Roosevelt's offending is that he has been disloyal, or is considered by the orthodox Republican party men to have been disloyal, to the Republican machine We are bound to say and we dare say our readers will readily believe us that we are not shocked at this kind of disloyalty, but very much the reverse. If Mr. Roosevelt believes, as we have no doubt whatever that he does, that principles which he cherishes require him to impair the unity of his party, at alf events for a time, it is only what av? should expect of him when he does not hesitate to take such a step. We trust that Englishmen, at all events, who have long since learned heartily to admire Mr. Roosevelt's high integrity and courage, cour-age, and to value his well-known friendship for Groat Britain, will not be misled into confusing insulting attacks upon him as a party politician with attacks upon him as a man. ' The truth is that the insults directed at Mr. Roosevelt aro valid only if the Republican machine is regarded as a sacrosanct. Mr. Roosevelt may have the greatest possible respect for the Republican party as such and vet hold that the famous "policies" on which he set his heart, and which he left to his party as a legacv, have been neglected, and that it is his duty to force them again' upon an in-attcnrive in-attcnrive country by every legitimate means. m If that is his motive we do not doubt for a moment that it is he is acting as a man of principle and honesty, and a patriot as well, in conducting a campaign to bring back his "party to the right path'. He may be right, or he may be wrong, but when he says that he will abide by the decision of the Republican convention as to whether he shall stand again for the presidency, it is surelv ludicrous to pretend pre-tend that he is guilty of treachery. A correspondent, signing himself "American Exile," says in the Times that a third term of office would be contrary to "the policy pol-icy declared by Washington and affirmed bv the unvarying practice prac-tice of the nation during more than a century!" But, as Arthur Lee points out in his excellent letter. Washington was not opposed to a third term, even a third consecutive term. Jefferson first objected to it. Washington wrote on tin's subject: "I confess I differ widely mvself from Mr. Jefferson and you as to the necessity or expediency of rotation in that office. I can see no propriety in precluding ourselves our-selves from the service of any man avIio at some great emergency shall be deemed universally most capable of serving the public." I As we understand him, Mr. Roosevelt thinks that the present circumstances constitute an emergency and that his services should not be withheld from his country if the majority of his party wish for them. In any ease, the historical argument amounts to very little. lit-tle. J ,. . The fluestin which is more important than any nicety of tradition tra-dition is whether there is nnv mnr.nl nhWHnn rt u .o-, , holding the presidency repeatedly. We can see none unless the terms of office are consecutive, and then his power of patronage and his advantage as the holder of the reins might certainly give him the opportunity to secure his re-election to the disadvantage of his country, just as the politicians in office in France are able to "make the elections" to some extent through the agency of the prefects. Mr. Roosevelt is only beginning his campaign, and it may be that he will not only weather the storm, but bring his ship safely to harbor once more. If he fails it will only prove that his policies are no longer popular or, if they are still popular, that thev are considered to bo safe in the hands of Mr. Taft. But whatever happens, hap-pens, and however much foreign observers may disagree with Mr. Roosevelt's "insurgency" or his "radicalism," we undertake to say that it will not be proved that he is an thing but a man of upright motives, fair dealing and untarnished personal honor. Any suggestion sug-gestion to the contrary would be resented by his friends in this countrj' as much as in America. Let us once more warn English readers not to be so unwise as to take any part in the deliberate attempts that are now being made to degrade Mr Roosevelt in the eyes of his countrymen, for their inspiration is either personal animosity or else party feeling in its most debased and exaggerated form Mr. Roosevelt, rightly or wrongly, is an insurgent within his own party. This is never a popular thing to be in a pi-rty-ridden community, and the opportunity has been seized unon for making dishonorable charges by all who hate him. The implication is that a man who would break away from his own party is capable of anv wickedness. As a matter of fact, and as every fair-minded man admits who knows (Mr. Roosevelt at close quarters, he is in the most absolute and complete sense a man of honor and of truth Ue may be rash in action or lacking in reticence and caution in his language, but of one thing we are certain: He is incapable of meanness or falsehood. false-hood. Whatever record leaps to light, his honor will be found unstained un-stained "American Exile" and others of his kind think it is safo to kick Mr. Roosevelt, because they thuik he is down. But he is not down In spite of newspaper vituperation, he still holds the hearts of the majority of the American people. |